(Malaysiakini)P Vwaishhnnavi, the six-year-old niece of detained Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar, and her mother K Shanti were released late yesterday but opted to spend the night at the Putrajaya police station.
The duo were released late last night but they refused to leave the police station and stayed with the rest.
The remaining 10 were taken to the Kajang Magistrate's Court this morning where the police have applied for a two-week remand to facilitate their investigation.
However, the magistrate only extended remand to three days till Sunday when hearing resumed in the afternoon following a lunch break. This means that the 10 will be able to celebrate Deepavali with their families on Monday.
Security was tight at the court complex, where six riot police FRU trucks as well as a water-cannon truck have been deployed. About 50 supporters and family members of those arrested have gathered outside the courthouse.
Journalists have also been barred from entering the court complex.
Lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad (left) from the Bar Council's Human Rights Committee, who is leading a six-member team on behalf of the 10, spend this morning arguing over the remand proceedings.
At 1.15pm, the court ended the arguments for lunch break. The magistrate announced her three-day remand decision at 2.30pm.
Detainees may miss Deepavali celebrations
According to lawyer N Surendran, the remand proceedings today were delayed because the legal team was not allowed to meet with the detainees prior to the proceedings.
According to him, the 10 are being investigated under Section 48 of the Societies Act for participating in an unlawful organisation.
“These people want to give a letter to the Prime Minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), what has that got to do with unlawful organisation?” asked Surendran.
He added that it is unlikely for the 10 to abscond since all of them have a permanent address and therefore releasing them on a police bail would suffice.
“Any attempt to remand is an attempt to punish them especially with Deepavali being around the corner,” he stressed.
According to Surendran, the detainee is a diabetic and her legs have swollen twice the size as she was unable to obtain insulin since her detention yesterday.
“I have never seen this kind of neglect in court before,” lamented the lawyer.
Meanwhile, another legal team member M Manogaran criticised the police for demanding lawyers to register themselves before entering the court building and for barring journalists from entering the complex.
“This is a tragedy. As an officer of court, I have a statutory duty to go into the court [...] We will take this issue to Bar Council. It’s a breach of statutory duty,” said the lawyer, who is also the Teluk Intan MP.
Police: Vwaishhnnavi not arrested
Vwaishhnnavi is the daughter of Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy, who is currently in self-imposed exile in London.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman told Malaysiakini yesterday that eight men and three women were arrested during the incident.
He clarified that Vwaishhnnavi had not been arrested and was with her mother.
According to the police, those held are being investigated under the Societies Act following the Home Ministry's imposition of a ban on Hindraf on Oct 15, declaring it an illegal organisation.
"Her daughter, Vwaishhnnavi, chose to stay with her and was not questioned," said the statement, which was sent to Malaysiakini.
"Shanti and her daughter were not detained by the police last night but they still chose to stay at the police station and spent the night at the lobby lounge of the police station."
Police Watch Malaysia coordinator S Jayathas, who was also held, claimed that they had been told that they were part of an illegal assembly for having gathered near the entrance of the building.
"We were trying to obtain permission from the security guards for Vwaishhnnavi to submit her letter. They said that we were from Hindraf, but we insisted that we were 'concerned Indians' who were accompanying Vwaishnnavi," Jayathas had said yesterday.
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