Protesters Arrested - KL - Taken from the NST Website

Aug 1, 2009

M'sia arrests protesters

KUALA LUMPUR - POLICE arrested dozens of Malaysians who tried to take part in a street protest Saturday against a law allowing detention without trial, opposition activists said.

Opposition parties were expecting thousands of demonstrators to march through Kuala Lumpur in what they hoped would be the biggest protest ever aimed at pressuring Malaysia's government to scrap the Internal Security Act, which provides for indefinite imprisonment without trial of people regarded as security threats.

Government authorities warned they would not allow the protest, saying it could undermine public peace.

Police began arresting people outside the city's main mosque three hours before the planned demonstration, said Salahuddin Ayub, vice-president of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party.

The party's news website and other Malaysian media said at least 51 have been detained in various locations, mainly people wearing opposition T-shirts and headbands.

Police set up roadblocks across Kuala Lumpur to prevent demonstrators from reaching the city center, sparking massive traffic crawls. Riot police backed by trucks mounted with water cannons fanned out at train stations and shopping malls where the demonstrators intended to gather.

The protesters planned to march to the national palace to submit a petition to Malaysia's king, the constitutional monarch, to denounce the Internal Security Act.

Human rights groups estimate at least 17 people are being held under the act, mainly for alleged links to militants and document forgery.

Human rights activists have long decried the decades-old act, instituted during the British colonial era, saying it is sometimes used to jail government critics and dampen dissent.

Prime Minister Najib Razak on Friday urged people not to join the protest. Mr Najib has promised to consider amending the act, though government officials have repeatedly said it is necessary to safeguard national security. -- AP