Opposition leaders today condemned police use of water cannon against ethnic Indian demonstrators and the arrest of 17 protesting at the alleged ill-treatment of a detained rights group leader.
Nearly 400 supporters of banned Indian rights group Hindraf had gathered Saturday at a police station in the capital when police hit the crowd with chemical-laced water.
"All these people were doing was just trying to get the government to give much needed medical attention to one of their leaders and to use such force on them should be condemned," he added.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said the move by police to disperse demonstrators filing reports on the health of detained Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar, who is being held in the Kamunting detention facility in northern Perak state, was worrying.
"I protest. People who lodged police reports against (senior opposition figure) Karpal Singh escape while those who defended their friends at Kamunting are detained," he was quoted as saying by the state news agency Bernama.
All protesters released
Hindraf coordinator R Thanenthiran, who had been detained, said he and opposition lawmaker S Manickavasagam were negotiating with police in filing close to 50 police reports when they were hit.
Police said Sunday all 17 protesters had been released on police bail.
Uthayakumar was arrested in 2007 under the Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial, after organising an anti-discrimination rally that saw more than 8,000 people take to the streets.
He has since complained of a lack of treatment for his diabetes while in custody and his lawyer says there is a fear that he may lose his leg because of a lack of access to medical care.
The authorities have denied the claim, saying he has been treated by government doctors.
-AFP
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