Questioning the arrest of student activist Adam Adli, the opposition also wants new inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar to explain why no action has been taken against other individuals - including retired Court of Appeal judge Mohd Noor Abdullah - for their controversial statements.

NONE"The police have come down hard on Adam. What about the judge? Has any action been taken against him? If yes, what action; and if no, why not?" Puchong MP Gobind Singh of the DAP asked in a statement issued today.

Gobind (left) reminded Khalid to ensure that there is fairness in the manner in which the police conduct themselves.

"He cannot and must not allow any further loss of public confidence in the force. His duty should rather be to rebuild confidence, to convince Malaysians that the police will not engage in double standards in the course of their work, in the course of pursuing justice.


adam adli raid 190513"Khalid should not follow in the footsteps of his predecessor (former IGP Ismail Omar). He cannot and must not remain silent when criticisms are channeled against his men. He must explain," he added.

Adam (right) was arrested last Saturday for allegedly making seditious remarks at a public forum last Monday, during which calls were made for massive street rallies to express dissatisfaction against the 13th general election results.

He has been remanded for five days and is being investigated under Section 124B of the Penal Code and Section 4 of the Sedition Act.

Section 124B is a new provision introduced late last year to deal with acts "detrimental to parliamentary democracy".


'Cease arbitrary persecution'

Echoing the same call, Gobind's party colleague and first-term Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming urged the police to release Adam immediately and to cease their arbitrary and selective persecution.

"I strongly question the decision to selectively detain Adam in consideration of the fact that many prominent leaders in the Malaysian political and activism scene have similarly expressed their unhappiness at the Malaysian election results, along with their support for public rallies.


NONE"Yet they have not been questioned, detained or charged for these remarks. Neither have the hundreds of thousands of ordinary Malaysians who participated peacefully in the recent 'Blackout' rallies been questioned, detained or charged." Ong (left) said in a statement today.

The arrest of Adam and the charging of PKR's Seri Setia state assemblyperson Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad for organising the protest rally in Kelana Jaya on May 8, he said, were selective persecution as well as the bullying of youth leaders and activists by the BN government.

"Perhaps the BN government is doing this in the hope of sending a message to young Malaysians to cease involvement in student activism and youth-led grassroots democracy activities that would appear to challenge the hegemony of its rule."

Ong stressed that the selective harassment has put Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's notion of "political transformation" and "national reconciliation" to great shame.

"How can Malaysia aspire to be a progressive and forward-looking democracy if the voices of its young talents and future leaders are stifled?" he asked.
NONEThe arrest of Adam also drew flak from PAS Youth, which described it as a "cruel and biased act against Malaysians who voiced out against electoral fraud".

PAS Youth publicity chief Riduan Mohd Nor (right) questioned police inaction against Malay daily Utusan Malaysia and Umno leaders who made racist remarks against the Chinese community.

"In fact, the action of fanning racial flames in our multiracial society is more dangerous than Adam's statement," Riduan said in a statement.

"If the police feel that it was seditious and it affected parliamentary democracy, they should know that hundreds of thousands of Malaysians are saying the same thing.

"Arresting one Adam will not stop the anger of the people against the violation of democracy by the Election Commission. Arrest Adam today and tomorrow hundreds of thousands more Adam will rise," Riduan added.-malaysiakini