| Of the some 60 people who were detained by the police for taking part in the Protes rally today, only PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan has been placed in the lock-up of the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters. The politician and social activist is expected to be charged for violating a court order which bans the staging of the rally today. A s at 10pm tonight, half of those picked up have given their statement to the police. The group included Malaysiakini journalist Syed Jaymal Zahiid. They are now holding out in the canteen within the police headquarters and are expected to be released later. Already, seven have been given the green light to go home but they chose to stay with the waiting group as a sign of solidarity. About 30 are still having their statements taken. The delay is due to the process which began only at 8pm. Arrests began at 2pm
More than 60 individuals were detained by the police near the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and Ampang Park shopping complex ahead of a protest against price hikes organised by Protes.
P rotes consists of several non-governmental organisations and opposition political parties PAS, PKR, PSM and DAP.
Police had declared the rally today as illegal and obtained a court order yesterday banning five people, in particular, from attending.
About 200 police personnel were present at KLCC and Ampang Park, their numbers equaling if not exceeding the protesters who turned up.
Starting at about 2pm, five women and four men were picked up near the Ampang Park LRT Station and brought to the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters (IPK) for questioning in connection with the rally.
Those picked up included PAS Wanita leader Aiman Athirah Al-Jundi and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S Arutchelvan.
Arutchelvan, who was taken away in a separate car, is one of five people named in the Kuala Lumpur magistrate’s court order prohibiting their presence within a one-kilometre radius of KLCC and the nearby Al-Shakirin mosque.
Before he was arrested, he was shown a copy of the court order by one of the police officers and told he was being brought to the police headquarters for questioning.
This led Arutchelvan to question why he was being brought to the police station when the court order was not an arrest warrant.
 “They are using this order to carry out an arrest, an order that undermines constitutional rights (to peaceful assembly),” he was heard as saying before being brought away.
C ommenting on Arutchelvan’s arrest, PSM chairperson Dr Nasir Hashim described it as incomprehensible.
“It’s a very funny court order. People are just walking around and they are being taken away. I think the lawyers should challenge this,” he told reporters at the LRT station.
Speaking generally on the crackdown against the gathering, Dr Nasir described the ruling government as “paranoid” about shows of public discontent and waning support.
“We are concerned with the effects of inflation on the lives of people, especially the poor. What’s wrong with that?” he asked.
Dr Nasir himself was eventually arrested. Court order shown
Earlier, at the KLCC Jalan Ampang entrance, six PAS members were picked up at. They consisted mainly of the party’s Unit Amal division from Wangsa Maju, Setapak.
Another round of arrests afterwards occurred, in which PKR media coordinator Ginie Lim was also caught up.
Others also arrested around this time included PKR Supreme Council members Badrul Hisham Shaharin and Badrul Amin Baharom. PAS’ vice-president Mohamad Sabu, treasurer Dr Hatta Ramli and research director Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad were also picked up.
At about 3.30pm, PKR information Tian Chua was arrested on Jalan P Ramlee after giving a press conference near the Australian High Commission.
He had blasted the government for cracking down on social and political activists decrying the price hikes when it should instead have spent its energies on formulating and coming forward to the public with concrete measures to tackle inflation.
Like Arutchelvan, PKR's Tian Chua was also shown a copy of the court order before being taken away.
Contacted later, Chua said the arrest was wrong on several grounds, including the fact that his name and identification card number
contained in the order were wrong.
“For one thing, there was no arrest warrant. Secondly, I was not even within the area specified in the court order from which I was
prohibited,” he told Malaysiakini from inside the police headquarters.
A t about the same time, at least 100 members and supporters of PSM and grassroots organisation Jerit arrived by bus and had marched from Ampang Park towards KLCC. They were led, among others, by Jerit leader Y Kohila.and PSM central committee member V Selvam.
Upon reaching the area in front of Avenue K opposite the towers, the group was blocked by a barrier of police officers who had locked arms and prevented them from proceeding any further.
Teenagers and elderly women were seen among the PSM-Jerit group who were caught in the ensuing scuffle that occurred between the two groups. Both activists and police officers - led by Zulkarnain - screamed at each other to “stop pushing”.
One of the ‘casualties’ of the melee was one woman who said her right shoulder was in pain after being struck during the pushing and shoving. She refused, however, to be brought by ambulance to the hospital for medical treatment. OCPD barks
Orders by Zulkarnain for the activists to sit down where they were standing were ignored. Instead, the latter crossed the road towards Avenue K, at which point Zulkarnain barked orders for their arrests.
“Drag them back (to this side) into the trucks! They were rough against us, be rough against them!” he was heard telling the police officers.
F rom the scores of PSM supporters and leaders who were arrested included Selvam. Several of the other activists were seen being kicked and struck as they were taken by force by police officers.
This prompted Kohila, speaking to reporters as the group dispersed in the direction of Ampang Park, to decry the state of democracy and freedom of speech in the country.
“We cannot do anything in this country! We cannot even talk about our grievances! We cannot even stand (up for rights)!” she screamed.
Met later, Zulkarnain denied any excessive force had been used against the protesters.
“You saw how I told them to sit down and not to proceed. They acted rough, so we were (only) equally rough,” he said.
He also said those picked up were only being brought to “assist investigations”.
By about 4 pm, most of the police personnel and those protesters still on Jalan Ampang had left.
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