©Malaysiakini
(Used by permission)
by Soon Li Tsin
The police have arrested three key leaders behind the Hindu Rights Action Force
(Hindraf) – lawyers P Uthayakumar, P Waythamoorthy and V Ganapathy Rao, just as
the movement is preparing for a mass rally this Sunday.
Waythamoorthy, who is Hindraf chairperson, informed Malaysiakini of his
arrest via SMS (Short Messaging Service).
According to the lawyer, he was arrested at the Shah Alam toll plaza at about
3pm and was taken to the Selangor police headquarters in Shah Alam.
Ganapathy was arrested around the same time at the police headquarters where he
had gone to see Hindraf’s legal adviser and Waythamoorthy’s brother, Uthayakumar.
Uthayakumar was picked up at his office in Kuala Lumpur under the Sedition Act
this morning.
The three are expected to be taken to the Klang Sessions Court where they will
be charged with sedition.
“If I am charged, I don’t want to be bailed out as a matter of protest,”
Waythamoorthy told Malaysiakini in a SMS, adding that the Indian
community should be able to handle the Sunday rally on their own.
The arrests come ahead of a Hindraf–organised mass rally slated for this weekend
outside the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
First to be arrested
Uthayakumar was arrested at his legal firm in Bangsar in Kuala Lumpur at about
10.30am, said the lawyer’s employee K Vasan.
“He was arrested under the Sedition Act. Five police officers from IPK Shah Alam
picked him up,” he said.
On Monday, the police had raided Uthayakumar’s law office in Kuala Lumpur with a
warrant, in search of a publication deemed to be seditious in content.
Five police officers conducted a search of his office, while about 10 officers
searched another office operated by his brother and Hindraf chairperson
Waythamoorthy in Seremban, Negri Sembilan.
While the police left Uthayakumar’s office empty handed, they were said to have
seized certain documents from Wathyamoorthy's office.
The brothers are key activists in the planning of a mass rally on Sunday, which
has been banned by the police.
The rally is organised by Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), in which
Uthayakumar serves as legal adviser.
Hindraf plans to gather 10,000 Indians to hand a memorandum addressed to the
Queen of England to support a class–action suit against Her Majesty’s government
for bringing Indians to Malaysia as indentured labourers and exploiting them for
150 years.
A total of US$4 trillion (RM14 trillion) is being sought for US$2 million for
every Indian residing in Malaysia.
Restraining order
Prior to the arrest, the police had gone to Uthayakumar's house in Bangsar to
serve him with a restraining order against participating in the rally.
The order, obtained from the Kuala Lumpur magistrate’s court, restrains
Uthayakumar, Waythamoorthy, lawyers M Mahonaran, Ganapathy, R Kengadharan and
all Hindraf supporters from participating in the gathering, on grounds that the
rally could endanger the public.
When contacted, Manoharan said he too has been served with the order which
prevents him and the others from going to the British High Commission for seven
days beginning on Nov 22.
“The notice was served on me at 7.50am today. The order was made under Section
98 of the Criminal Procedure Code by the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court,” he
said.
Section 98 grants the court powers to issue an immediate order in urgent cases
of potential nuisance.
According to Manoharan, the application for the restraining order was made by
the Cheras police station and served on him by officers from police headquarters
in Kuala Lumpur.
He said he will be making the necessary application to set aside the court
order.
Manoharan was one of four lawyers – the others being Uthayakumar, Waythamoorthy
and S Ganabathi Rao – arrested in Kampung Rimba Jaya in Padang Jawa, near Shah
Alam, during a fracas surrounding the demolition of a century–old Hindu temple
on Oct 31. They were later released.