Address: 433A, Jalan 5/46, Gasing Indah, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Telephone: +6 03 7784 3525 Fax: +6 03 7784 3526
Email: sua...@suaram.net Web: www.suaram.net
Update Urgent appeal: 15 December 2008
39 JERIT Cyclists and Activists Arrested
39 JERIT cyclists and activists, including SUARAM staff and secretariat member, have been arrested by the police in Bangi.
At 9.30am today, the JERIT cyclists cycled from Denudin Estate to Bangi Lama Estate where they arrived at around 11.30am. They were supposed to cycle to Kajang after the pit stop at Bangi Lama Estate. However, at the Bangi Lama Estate, police ambushed the estate and threatened to arrest the activists and cyclists.
At around 1.15pm, the police arrested the cyclists and activists. They are currently still at the Bangi Lama Estate but will be taken to IPD Kajang.
The activists arrested are:
1. Nalini E.
2. Madhavi S.
3. Parameswari E.
4. Letchumy D.
5. Arutchelvan
6. Vani
7. Maran
8. Ganeson
9. Saravanan
10. Janeshwari
11. Thamilthasan
12. Shanmugan
The cyclists arrested are:
13. Paranjothi K.
14. Kaviyarasan K.
15. Jamuna R.
16. Parvinkumar J.
17. Sivarajan K.
18. Christopher T.
19. Ravikumar K.
20. Kok Wei
21. Mathunan
22. Ragunathan S.
23. Gurumoorthy E.
24. Sri Sangkari V.
25. Logeswary V.
26. Kumaresan T.
27. Jegathesan R.
28. Arunan S.
29. Alexander
30. Durai
31. Noorthaman G.
32. Ng Yong Jin
33. Raymond Lim
34. Lim Wei Sin
35. Gejentheran R.
36. Maheswaran R.
37. Kavinkumar R.
38. Mohanraj J.
39. Yogendran S.
SUARAM strongly condemns the police for their ongoing attacks and intimidation on freedom of expression, a fundamental right which is guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. We demand the Malaysian government to allow the cyclist to continue cycling and practice their freedom of expression as stated in Federal Constitution.
Background
JERIT or Oppressed People's Movement is organizing a cycling campaign
throughout the nation to put forward six demands to the Prime Minister of
Malaysia. The campaign officially began on the 3rd December at Wisma Darul Aman
Kedah. 50 cyclists have been flagged off from Wisma Darul Aman and they would
cycle for sixteen days through Kedah, Penang, Perak, and Selangor. On 18th
December they will handover a memorandum to the Prime Minister in
Parliament.
4 December: A volunteer of the campaign,
Ruben s/o Loganathan has been arrested at Merbau Pulas, Kedah, for
leafleting leaflets containing demands of JERIT's Bicycle campaign, but released
under police bail on the same day.
5 December: Teluk Kumbar police
had stopped the cyclist of JERIT cycle campaign from leafleting in Teluk Kumbar,
Penang.
6 December: 16 Activist has been arrested in Skudai Johor.
9 December: 8 individuals have been arrested on the seventh day of the JERIT cycle campaign. One of the female JERIT activists, Helen Mary Johnson has been molested and punched on the face by a police officer while she was taking photographs. Another JERIT activist Lee Huat Seng’s Lee Huat Seng's camera was confiscated and in the process the police hurt him in the arm.
Released By,
Temme Lee
SUARAM Coordinator
Urgent action
needed:
Please write protest letters to the government and the
police to express your strongest condemnation of the arrests and the ongoing
denial of rights of expression. Please also demand the Malaysian government to
allow the cyclist to continue their campaign and allow them to practice their
freedom of expression as stated in Federal Constitution.
Please call and
send your protest letters to:
1. IPD Kajang
Ibu
Pejabat Polis Daerah Kajang
Polis Diraja Malaysia
43000
Kajang
Selangor
Tel: +603-87362222
Fax: +603-8734 3531
OCPD Kajang: +6019-9553555
2. Inspector-General of
Police
Tan Sri
Musa Hassan
Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,
50560 Bukit Aman,
Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: +603 2262 6015
Fax: +603 2272 5613
SAMPLE
LETTER
[Letterhead of your
organisation]
Inspector-General of Police
Tan Sri Musa Hassan
Ibu
Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,
50560 Bukit Aman,
Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Tel: +603 2262 6015
Fax: +603 2272 5613
Dear
Sir,
Re: Release the 39
JERIT Activists and Cyclists Arrested at Bangi Lama
We are writing to you, once again, to express our outrage and our
strongest condemnation over your government's ongoing crackdown on freedom of
expression.
We are appalled by your government and the police's latest
actions and view this as yet another attempt by your government to intimidate
Malaysian citizens from participating in any form of public assembly and
exercising their freedom to express their views.
We demand that the 39
activists and cyclists be released immediately and unconditionally and the
cyclists be allowed to continue their campaign. We further demand that your
government stops the assault on freedom of expression.
We strongly urge you, once again, to stop bringing shame to Malaysia, a
member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. We would like to remind you
that freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights as well as the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.
Yours sincerely,
[Name]