Syed Hamid: I knew nothing until this morning

Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar claimed he did not have knowledge of action taken last night by Selangor police to end a candlelight vigil, until this morning.

Met by reporters in Parliament lobby today, the minister said he has “not received any reports” on the matter, but assured that he would check if any complaints have been lodged.

He expressed confidence that the police had acted in accordance with law, but refused to comment further when pressed.

“Let me check (first) because police work is police work. Their responsibility is to maintain law and order, (but so far) I have not got any report,” he said.

“If you have done something against law and order, the police will take action. But if you are not happy with it, bring specific details to me and let me check.”

The minister was asked to comment on allegations of force at the event held last night in Petaling Jaya. Police arrested 23 people including DAP representatives Tony Pua, Lau Weng San and Ronnie Liu.

Also arrested was Malaysiakini videographer Syukri Mohamad.

About 300 people had gathered in front of the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre to take part in a candlelight vigil organised by Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) to mark the first anniversary of its massive protest in Kuala Lumpur.

All, except one of the detainees, were released at 7am today on police bail. They are required to report to the PJ district police station on Nov 24.

‘Don’t use force’

At a press conference this morning in the Parliament lobby, DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng expressed disappointment.

“If the police want to arrest, they should not resort to violence, the police have no right to attack anyone, including elected representatives,” Lim said.

“If the elected representatives can get beaten up, the same thing could easily happen to ordinary people,” he said.

Lim took Syed Hamid to task, asserting that he should not practise double standards when it comes to investigating the matter.

“He said he would investigate and conduct full inquiry on the brutality. I hope there will be no double standards,” he said.