KUALA LUMPUR – DAP’s Petaling Jaya city councillor Nalina Nair and Covid-19 vigil participant Sujatra Jayarah pleaded not guilty to charges at the high court here today that were linked to the August 19 event at Dataran Merdeka.
Nalina pleaded not guilty and was released on a RM5,000 bail. Her case is scheduled to continue on October 1.
Sujatra also pleaded not guilty and was granted RM2,000 bail.
The duo will be tried separately, although they are both charged under Section 90 of the Police Act 1967 and, if found guilty, will be fined not more than RM500 or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.
The section pertains to “any person who, in a police station, behaves in a riotous, indecent, disorderly or insulting manner”.
Nalina yesterday said on her Instagram that she is “not intimidated and will not kowtow to such cowardly tactics to instil fear into those of us who demand good governance and better management of this Covid-19 pandemic”.
Meanwhile, Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR) slammed the charges, saying participants who were hauled up were cooperative with the police but detained without cause.
“The police during the arrests failed to state which section of the law the participants were detained under and failed to read them their rights, violating Section 28A(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
“We again stressed that the police action that night was excessive and uncalled for,” it said in a statement today.
On August 19, 31 individuals were detained for participating in the memorial event.
Among them were Parti Sosialis Malaysia members Chong Yee Shan, Bharathi Paneer Selvam, Gurpreet Singh, Sarah Irdina, Navin, Muaz Ishak, and Irfan Hafizuddin, and Nalina, and Undi18’s Qyira Yusri, Tharma Pillai and Nurul Rifayah.
Thulsi Manogaran from the Centre for Independent Journalism, SSR’s Asraf Sharafi and Muda central executive committee member Khairi Zulfadhli were also among those arrested.
On August 22, a handful of individuals linked to black flag protest organisers, SSR and their lawyers were summoned to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters here at 6pm.
In a brief statement, SSR said the individuals were called up to provide statements over a report lodged that morning.
“After lodging their reports this morning at the Sentul district police headquarters on Thursday’s violence and unlawful detention, a few SSR members entered Dang Wangi district police headquarters at 6pm to give statements over said report.
“Earlier, our lawyer Rajsurian Pillai, was also called up to give a statement at the same venue.”
Meanwhile, Undi18’s Qyira Yusri tweeted that the police asked the group to surrender their mobile devices before entering the Dang Wangi station. – The Vibes, August 26, 2021
