Maria Chin freed after 10 days in detention
KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah was released yesterday after being detained on Nov 18 under the Security Offences (Special Measures) (Sosma) Act 2012.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed that Maria was freed at 4.50pm at Bukit Aman.
On Nov 23, he had said that Maria Chin’s arrest had nothing to do with the Bersih 5 rally on Nov 19 but was held under Sosma as she could undermine national security.
He further said the Act allowed the police to detain her for 28 days for investigations after evidence was found in her office.
Last Tuesday, Maria Chin had filed a habeas corpus application through lawyers Datuk S. Ambiga, Eric Paulsen and Melissa Sasidharan at the High Court Registry to challenge her detention. The hearing is set to be held today.
Police yesterday recorded statements from five opposition leaders over the Bersih rally.
Those questioned were former Umno leader Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, PKR vice-president Dr Xavier Jayakumar, PKR Penanti assemblyman Dr Norlela Ariffin, DAP Sekinchan assemblyman Ng Suee Lim and PKR Youth chief Afzainizam Abd Rahman.
The five arrived at the Travers police station, here, at 9.50am, accompanied by two lawyers.
After two hours, they were seen walking out of the premises.
Saifuddin said police asked them the same questions, including if they had attended the recent rally and whether they knew the purpose of the rally.
“However, we chose not to answer. (We) will only answer in court,” he said.
The five were questioned separately by different officers.
Lawyer Saiful Izham Ramli said they were being investigated under the Sedition Act and the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
He said more leaders would be called for questioning over the rally.
Meanwhile, police raided the office of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Section 4, Petaling Jaya, and seized financial records of Bersih 2.0.
The office of Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower) was raided at 1pm.
It was learnt that 10 policemen entered the premises, which were once shared with Bersih 2.0.
During the raid, police locked the gates, denying entry to the lawyers representing the NGO.
Empower project officer Rizal Rozhan said the raiding team printed financial records between 2013 and 2016.
“One of the officers was specifically looking for the 2015 financial record. We have given our full cooperation to them,” he said.
Empower financial officer Mei Yun said the police did not produce any letters or search warrant.
At about 5pm, the officers left with two boxes of financial records seized from the NGO.