Police detain volunteers distributing Bar Council book

(THE STAR) – Police detained four legal aid volunteers who, without a permit, were handing out the Bar Council’s Red Book: Police and Your Basic Rights to the public in Bukit Jalil on Sunday.

However, no charges were pressed against the four, who were advised to get a permit in order to hand out the books, said acting Cheras OCPD Supt Abd Rahim Hamzah Othman.

In the 3pm incident, two lawyers and two chambering students from the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre (LAC) were trying to educate the public on their basic rights when police brought them in.

“It is not a big issue, they were released a few hours later,” Supt Abd Rahim said when contacted Sunday.

The book — launched in 2006 by de facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz — provides information on what to do when stopped, arrested or questioned by the police.

Legal Aid Centre volunteers handed out copies of the book in Sogo, Bintang Walk, Masjid Jamek and Bukit Jalil on Sunday to mark the start of National Law Awareness Week.