Fourteen political activists were arrested in Sungei Siput, Perak, this morning while distributing national flags at the wet market while wearing Bersih T-shirts and the DAP's Ubah T-shirts.

NONE They began their walkabout at 9am, but police arrived within 15 minutes to take them to the police station.

Eight of the activists were dressed in Bersih T-shirts, while the others were wearing DAP's Ubah T-shirts. Twelve are from DAP, while two are PKR members.

Among those arrested by police are DAP's Jalong assemblyperson Leong Mei Ming, PKR's Teja assemblyperson Chang Lih Kang and Tan Kar Hing, who is political secretary to PKR's Gopeng parliamentarian Dr Lee Boon Chye.

NONE When contacted, Leong confirmed that she had been arrested, but she was not been told under what provision.

“We were told that the police have orders 'from above' to arrest anyone wearing a Bersih T-shirt,” she said.

“If not Bersih (clean), does that mean we should support kotor (dirty)?” Leong asked, playing on the words.

Chang tweeted that the police said the yellow T-shirt "instigates people to attend the Bersih rally" on July 9, while the banner urges the people to support Bersih 2.0.

High-handed action of police criticised

Leong recounted that within 15 minutes of arriving at the market, a dozen of police officers headed by deputy police district chief DSP Ernest intervened.

The police immediately tried to grab a folded banner from a party member, which started a row between them and the police.

“We just unfolded the banner when we arrived at the market, and took a photo with it, that’s all. After that, we folded it and just carried it along.

“The police have no right to grab or confiscate our private property,” Leong said, adding that the police even handcuffed one of the DAP members.

“This is totally unnecessary. Why do police have to use such highhanded tactics? This is abuse of power,” she said.

Leong explained that, giving out national flags to express support for Bersih 2.0 is an act of patriotism. At the same time, it shows support for Sungai Siput MP Dr D Jeyakumar, who was arrested on Sunday and has been remanded up to Saturday.

About 2.30pm today, the police began recording the statements of those detained, according to a tweet update from Chang. He later tweeted that he will be released today.

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