[Urgent Appeal] Police to Remand Two Human Rights Defenders for Leafleting at Demonstration in Johor Bahru

Urgent Appeal: 18 June 2007

Police to Remand Two Human Rights Defenders for Leafleting at Demonstration in Johor Bahru

The Police arrested 2 activists from Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) Johor Bahru branch who were leafleting at a demonstration in front of Menteri Besar's residence, Johor Bahru on 17 June 2007. The demonstration was calling for MB's attention and action on the rising crime rates in Johor Bahru.

The police said the two activists will be brought to a magistrate's court today for remand order application. Suaram condemns strongly the arbitrary arrest and remand of the human rights defenders. The police of Johor Bahru is wasting public monies in intimidating human rights defenders instead of doing their job of busting the crimes.

The two activists are Nyam Kee Han and See Siew Min. Nyam is the coordinator of Suaram's Johor Bahru branch while See Siew Min is a secretariat member of the branch.
They are currently being held at the IPD Johor Bahru (Selatan) police station. The leaflet that they distributed calls for immediate setting up of the Independent Police Complaint and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), as recommended by the Royal Commission on police reform.

The Federal Constitution of Malaysia and international Human Rights law enshrine freedom of assembly, the arbitrary arrests by police is clearly an abuse of power and a persecution to activists who tried to expose the slack attitude of the police force in resolving crimes.
We call on the police to immediately and unconditionally release the 2 arrested activists.

Background
Recently, there have been increasing public outrage on the rising crimes in Johor Bahru, evidently with a series of robberies and rapes cases. A group of Johor Bahru's residents on their own initiative organized a demonstration on 17 June 2007 in front of the residence of Johor Menteri Besar. They call for the attention of the MB to take action to reduce the crime rates in JB.
The two activists attended in support of the residents and at the same time distributed a flyer calling for the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), one of the 125 recommendations of a royal commissin set up by the government to reform the police force.
When the demonstration almost ended, the police suddenly arrested the two activists.

Action Needed
Solidarity action for the two human rights defenders is urgently needed. Please state your protest against the arrest of the 2 activists and demand for the immediate release of them via faxes and phone calls to the following:
1. Johor Bahru Police Station
ASP Nor Hashim's mobile phone : +60 12 7235776
CID chief of IPD Johor Bahru (Selatan)
OCPD: ACP Safie bin Ismail
IPD Johor Bahru (Selatan)
Ibupejabat Polis Daerah Johor Bahru
Polis Diraja Malaysia
JKR No.489, Jalan Meldrum, 80000
Johor Bahru, Johor,
Malaysia
Tel: +60 7 2232222-27
Fax: +60 7 2246925

2. Tan Sri Musa Hassan

Inspector General of Police

Ibupejabat PDRM,

Bukit Aman,

50560 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

Fax-03-22731326
3. Tan Sri Abu Talib bin Othman
Chairman
National Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)

Tingkat 29, Menara Tun Razak,

Jalan Raja Laut,

50350 Kuala Lumpur

Fax-03-26125620
Email: humanrights@ suhakam.org. my
For more information, please contact Moon Hui, tel: +60 3 77843525, mobile: +60 12 7209981 or suaram@suaram.net.

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