Sivakumar, 18 others held over gathering
(NST) IPOH: Ousted state assembly speaker V. Sivakumar and at least 18 others, including opposition state assemblymen, were arrested for participating in an illegal gathering near the Perak DAP headquarters here yesterday.
Those from the Parti Keadilan Rakyat were Teja state assemblymen Chang Lih Kang and Simpang Pulai Chan Ming Kai.
The DAP elected representatives detained were Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran, Pasir Pinji state assemblyman Thomas Su, Malim Nawar state assemblyman Keshvinder Singh, Menglembu state assemblyman Lim Pek Har and Jalong state assemblyman Leong Mee Meng.
Also arrested were two Pas, two DAP party workers at least two onlookers and five workers from an event management company.
All were detained for disobeying instructions from Ipoh Criminal Investigation Department chief Deputy Superintendent Glenn Anthony to not form an illegal assembly.
Except for the onlookers, who were taken in for a scolding by police as the arrests were being made, the others were detained for walking in a group to the Ipoh High Court to protest the dismissal of village heads appointed when Pakatan Rakyat was in power.
They had wanted to join former menteri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin who was at the court building to file a civil suit on behalf of the 817 village heads.
Led by Kulasegaran and Sivakumar, who is Tronoh state assemblyman, the group had just walked about 50 metres from the DAP office when police began arresting them about 11.30am.
Kulasegaran was heard telling Glenn that he was merely walking to the court and not marching.
Pakatan politicians and workers did not put up a struggle as they were led to police trucks parked nearby.
However, Leong had to be dragged to a truck when he resisted arrest.
All were taken to the Ipoh district police headquarters, located about 2km from where they were arrested.
About 20 Federal Reserve Unit men and 70 uniformed and plainclothes policemen had earlier taken up position near the DAP headquarters from 6.30am.
Around 7am, police picked up five workers of event management company Etak Sdn Bhd, including three foreigners, who were putting up a canopy and a large balloon outside the state DAP headquarters.
The canopy was meant as a gathering point for Pakatan assemblymen who had pledged to go on a 72-hour hunger strike to press for the dissolution of the state assembly.
At 9.45am, about 10 Ipoh City Council staff arrived to remove the canopy but Pakatan leaders told them not to touch it.
The canopy was removed about two hours later.
Because of the heavy police presence, the hunger strike was shifted to the DAP headquarters.
At 10.55am, Nizar launched the hunger strike but was prevented by police from gathering outside the state DAP headquarters to allow the press to take photographs of them.
Following the arrests, state DAP chairman Ngeh Koo Ham went to the district police headquarters here to meet those arrested but was denied entry. He lodged a police report later protesting against the arrests as well as complaining of alleged abuse of power by the police.
