Cops nab Rafizi, fourth PKR man over #KitaLawan rally
(Malay Mail Online) – Police arrested PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli this evening, allegedly in relation to his involvement in Saturday’s #KitaLawan rally held to protest Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s jailing.
The arrest was confirmed by the party’s information chief Fahmi Fadzil.
“Rafizi has been arrested at the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur at around 7.00 pm this evening under Section 143 of the Penal Code as well as the Peaceful Assembly Act believed to be in relation to the #KitaLawan rally,” Fahmi said in text message.
He later added that Rafizi would be released tonight on police bail.
Rafizi, who is also Pandan MP, tweeted about an hour ago that the police were trying to arrest him after he had gone to the Dang Wangi police station to lodge a report against 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) for alleged impropriety.
Another PKR member, Fariz Musa was arrested earlier today, reportedly for his involvement in the same rally.
Yesterday, a magistrate issued a three-day remand order for PKR state lawmaker Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, arrested Sunday, to assist investigations on the #KitaLawan rally in support of jailed party leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim held on Saturday.
According to Nik Nazmi’s lawyer Melissa Sasidaran yesterday, the Seri Setia assemblyman is being investigated under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and Section 143 of the Penal Code.
“According to the police, he is a repeat offender as an organiser,” the lawyer told Malay Mail Online.
Section 143 of the Penal Code prescribes the punishment for those found guilty of being a member of an unlawful assembly with a jail term of up to six months, or a fine, or both.
Thousands of Anwar supporters flooded the streets in the nation’s capital city on Saturdayo protest the government’s alleged mistreatment of the opposition leader who was jailed last month for sodomising a former male aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in 2008.
The demonstration kicked off at 3pm from three assembly points within the city — Central Market, Masjid Jamek and the PAS headquarters on Jalan Raja Laut — before demonstrators converged at Sogo and then continued their march to the Petronas Twin Towers.
The police had previously issued a warning that the rally, headlined as #KitaLawan, was unlawful, as its organisers had failed to follow the conditions laid out in the Peaceful Assembly Act.
The #KitaLawan hashtag movement is a group formed in solidarity with Anwar with a number of its members comprising student leaders.
Despite the warning, the police did not attempt to stop the demonstrators.
