Hindraf leader arrested after bail

SINGAPORE: Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P. Uthayakumar was arrested, granted bail and rearrested under Malaysia’s Sedition Act on Tuesday, amid the continuing crackdown on opposition leaders and civil liberty activists.

Mr. Uthayakumar was first arrested in Kuala Lumpur while he was on way to his office in the morning. He was soon charged, in a Sessions Court, for having posted a “seditious” statement on the website, in the guise of a letter to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the alleged “ethnic cleansing” of Malaysian Indians.

In that letter, the Hindraf leader had appealed to the U.K. to refer Malaysia to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court. The U.K. was also requested to pilot an emergency resolution against Malaysia in the United Nations Security Council. The Hindraf had earlier held the U.K. responsible for its colonial-era actions that led to ethnic Indian settlements, as a minority group, in the Malaya region.

Pleads not guilty

With Mr. Uthayakumar pleading not guilty, he was granted bail by judge Sabariah Othman, who ordered a five-day trial from January 7 next year. When contacted by The Hindu, Mr. Uthayakumar said he was rearrested shortly after he posted bail and that he was, at that very moment, being held by police. His counsel M. Manoharan later said he was not yet informed of the new “sedition charge.” He clarified that the new move was said to be related to the Sedition Act and not the tougher Internal Security Act that could be used for detention without trial.

The charges are a sequel to the ruling by a High Court on Monday that trial be held, in a different case under the Sedition Act, in respect of two other Hindraf leaders — P. Waytha Moorty and V. Ganapati Rao also. A Sessions Court had earlier discharged all three.

On the wider and multi-racial opposition front, the former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, said in a statement he was briefly detained at the immigration counter of the Kuala Lumpur airport on his arrival from abroad in the morning. Late at night, the national news agency reported that the Immigration Department denied that he was detained.

Mr. Anwar said he was told that his name was on a list of suspects. He led an anti-government rally on November 10 under the banner of Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (locally known as Berish). At least 12 activists of Bersih, including Opposition leaders, were arrested on Tuesday for organising an “illegal rally” outside the heavily-barricaded Parliament complex in Kuala Lumpur. They were opposing the move, later endorsed by Parliament, to grant an extension to the Chairman and members of the Election Commission.

For some time during the day, reports circulated, suggesting that an Indian citizen, identified as Ashraf Ali Sadakatullah, was among those arrested and granted bail for having participated in the “illegal” march by some lawyers and other activists, who demanded “freedom of assembly.” However, neither the Malaysian Bar Council, one or two of whose members defended the accused, nor the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur could immediately confirm the identity of this person.

(Online edition of India's National Newspaper THE HINDU Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007)