May Day rally proceed despite police arrest
(FMT) – KUALA LUMPUR: The May Day rally today saw the arrest of about 18 protesters including Sungai Siput MP Jeyakumar Devaraj and Parti Sosialis Malaysia secretary-general S Arutchelvan.
They were arrested for failing to disperse from an illegal assembly. Most of them were arrested at Maju Junction along Jalan Sultan Ismail while Arutchelvan and another person were taken in near the Chow Kit monorail station.
About 400 people had gathered since 10.30am to take part in the May Day rally, calling for a minimum wage and against the continuing price hikes. The protesters were made up of estate workers, residents from displaced housing settlements and representatives from the civil societies.
The rally was organised by 75 non-governmental organizations.
The rally was to have started at 10.30am at the Chow Kit monorail station from where the protesters had planned to march towards Dataran Merdeka.
However a stong police presence at the monorail station saw the protesters emerging at Maju Junction, located about 2km away from the original venue.
Here the protesters carried banners and placards, and chanted slogans for the government to introduce minimum wage and bring down the prices of essential goods.
They then proceeded to Information, Telecommunication and Culture Ministry located in a nearby building and staged a peaceful sit-in.
The organisers also managed to submit a memorandum to Malaysian Human Rights Commissioner James Nayagam at the entrance of the building.
