S Arutchelvan claims he was harassed by police who wanted to record a statement over a recent demonstation at the US Embassy.
PETALING JAYA: Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general, S Arutchelvan, lodged a report at the Kajang police station yesterday, claiming that he was harassed by several police officers. In his report, Arutchelvan claimed that four policemen from the Cheras district police were trying to question him unlawfully over his participation in a recent solidarity demonstration for Egypt at the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
On Feb 4, about 1,000 people staged a peaceful demonstration at the embassy to support the growing calls among Egyptians that their long-serving president, Hosni Mubarak, resign from his post.
Among others who participated in the gathering were PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub, Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, and PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin.
However, the police disrupted the demonstration by firing water cannons and arresting seven participants for failing to disperse despite numerous warnings.
Arutchelvan claimed the policemen served him with a notice under section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) at his residence.
This requires him to give his statement to the police at a specified time and venue which is usually indicated in the notice itself.
“However, this notice did not have these details. When I enquired one of the officers, known as Inspector Faizal Abdullah, he said he will record my statement in my house itself,” said Arutchelvan.
Claiming the notice was defective, Arutchelvan refused to give any statement.
“Faizal then threatened to get an arrest warrant against me but I stood my ground,” he said.
Speaking to FMT, Arutchelvan claimed that Kajang police officers agreed with his argument that the notice was defective due to the absence of relevant details (venue and time).
“Since the police are serving a notice to a witness, they should learn to give some respect to the witness and not just come to his house and record a statement,” said Arutchelvan.
