Malaysia has become a police state, lamented Perak DAP chairperson Ngeh Koo Ham.

The police, he said, are arresting the public according to their whims and fancies with total disregard for human rights.

dap perak ipoh candle light vigil arrest 270509 02 "The situation is turning ugly, worse than the infamous Operation Lalang where 106 people across the country were arrested. Now the total unwarranted arrests has come up to 157 nationwide of which over 80 are in Perak.

"Polis diRaja Malaysia is now acknowledged by Perakians as 'Polis Raja diMalaysia' as they go on a total suppression of freedom of speech and movement which is guaranteed under the

Federal Constitution," he added.

Last night, DAP state secretary Nga Kor Ming's driver G Haridass, 34, and DAP Taiping councillor Simon Uthaya Kumar, 51, were arrested outside the entrance of the state DAP headquarters in Ipoh.

dap perak ipoh candle light vigil arrest 270509 03 There was a heated argument between Ngeh, Nga and Ipoh deputy police chief Ibrahim Abu Bakar over the arrest.

Ibrahim had apparently stated that the police can arrest persons in a group of five or more.

However, Ngeh argued that the reason stated by the police chief “does not hold water as they were only two persons present and this is a blatant abuse of police power."

Moreover, the candlelight vigil was held indoor inside the DAP headquarters.

'1,2,3 tangkap'

Commenting on the 14 arrests earlier in the day, Ngeh said Ipoh district CID chief Glen Anthony had not given the crowd enough time to disperse.

"He just said '1,2,3 tangkap ' (arrest) and 14 people including (ousted) Perak speaker V Sivakumar and Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran were arrested," he added.

dap perak ipoh candle light vigil arrest 270509 01 A total of eight Pakatan elected representatives were detained.

Also held were five workers hired to put up a canopy and balloon for the launch of the Pakatan Rakyat hunger strike yesterday.

Ngeh disagreed with the police's action to investigate the five workers under the Sedition Act for the wordings ' Daulat Tuanku, Bubarkan DUN ', which was on the gigantic balloon.

He argued that the term ' Daulat Tuanku ' is a respectful term, which is not seditious in any manner.

If this is the case, the DAP leader said the police must also charge Barisan Nasional Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir under the Sedition Act as he had distributed badges and armbands with the wordings ' Daulat Tuanku '.