I refer to the Malaysiakini report Police keep video camera for 'investigation'.

With reference to the above report, I would like to bring to your attention to the fact that my video camera, too, was taken by the police at the same vigil.

I would like to highlight this as it is a new, bad turn in police conduct because the police are seemingly embarking on a new tactic to stop their repressive acts from being publicised.

Instead of cleaning their act and behaving professionally, they are seizing all such equipments which have recorded their outrageous actions for posterity.

That night, I was recording from across the road police personnel forcibly pushing the arrested candlelight vigil attendees into a police truck without allowing them to get into the trcuk by themselves.

Police unhappiness over my action caused them to send two personnel to come over to arrest me and to take away my video camera. Is there a law against recording video evidence of police brutality?

Or it could be their attempt to wipe out any record of their outrageous, illegal and uncivilised conduct? I was disturbed to hear that there are also other video and camera persons who were forced to erase their photos and recordings or risk being arrested.

If the police haven’t done anything untoward, then why take measures to ensure that all recordings and photographs are confiscated?

After I was released on police bail, I asked for my camera back for after all, it belongs to me. To my shock, they at first denied any knowledge of the seized video camera.

They then sent me to their general inquiry counter where again the police personnel there professed total ignorance of my video camera. They claimed to have a record of the video camera seized from Malaysiakini but none from me.

I persisted with my request for over an hour before they brought in two video cameras which they said were seized from the scene of the vigil as `evidence' and as such they wouldn't return the cameras at least until their investigations were finished.

One of those cameras was mine.

I just wonder what `evidence' they are looking for? The police has their own video-graphers and camera persons to record events.

To imply that they need our video footage - and to take it without our agreement - is totally unreasonable besides depriving of our right to use our own property for the duration of their investigations.

We need to strongly protest such unjustifiable tactics by the police. This incident further proves that time has come for the police to be watch closely by an external watchdog such as the IPCMC.