ARRESTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, DESPERATE MOVES BY EMBATTLED PRIME MINISTER

ARRESTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, DESPERATE MOVES BY EMBATTLED PRIME MINISTER(Kuala Lumpur) The arrests of 23 persons this morning, including leaders of the People's Justice Party (KeADILan) as well as the BERSIH delegation, which had handed in a memorandum to protest against the constitutional amendment that allows the current Elections Commission chief to extend his service for one more year, were desperate moves by an embattled Prime Minister. In an statement released this afternoon, the de facto leader of KeADILan, Anwar Ibrahim said the end of Abdullah Badawi's leadership is near. Anwar, who was held up for questioning at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport this morning upon his return from an international conference in Turkey, said "In response the government has resurrected the spectre of the ISA (Internal Security Act) to intimidate and instill fear among civil rights leaders." "These repressive tactics are a sign that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's leadership of Malaysia has run its course," he concluded.Elizabeth Wong from the Information Bureau of KeADILan said today's cordoning off of the Parliament was an abuse of power by the Prime Minister, to disguise the public's discontent with the hasty passing of today's constitutional amendment. "The Parliament belongs to citizens and this avenue to express our concerns and grievances should not have been closed off as it will augment the people's anger," she added.Wong said that in the past, numerous protests were allowed outside the Parliament and delegations handing over memorandums were not arrested. "The threats and repression in past days are cowardly acts by a most cowardly regime, grasping at straws to stay in power," said Wong.In another development, the car in which Tian Chua was traveling in, was burnt on the road leading to Parliament. The owner of the car, Abdul Razak Ismail, the information coordinator of NGO, Labour Resource Centre, and Tian Chua were arrested in the morning while on the road."This is the work of the police and smacks of vengeance," fumed Tian Chua, when contacted at the police headquarters. "It was not enough for them to arrest us in the middle of the road so they had to torch our car," he added.Wong said remaining fifteen persons (see list below) are expected to spend the night in police lockups and be brought to the Duta Kuala Lumpur courts to be charged on Wednesday morning. (END) (For more information, contact KeADILan Information Bureau, Elizabeth Wong 012 205 3277)------------------------------------------------------------PERSONS DETAINED AT THE KUALA LUMPUR POLICE HEADQUARTERS (AS OF 6:00 PM) 1. Tian Chua (Information Chief, KeADILan)2. 
Ang Hiok Gai (former KeADILan Supreme Council Member)3. 
Mohd Hatta Ramli (Treasurer, PAS)4. 
Dr. Lo Lo Ghazali
5. Nuridah Mohd Salleh
6. Azira Ariffin7. Hashim Awang8. Nasruddin Hassan Tantawi9. Mohd Sabri Shafie
10. Mohd Badilah Muda
11. Dr. Nasir Hashim (Chairman, protem Socialis Party Malaysia)
12. S. Arutchelvan (Secretary-General, protem Socialis Party Malaysia)
 13. S. Sivarajan (Central Committee, protem Socialis Party Malaysia)14. . Abdul Razak Ismail (Information Coordinator, Labour Resource Centre15. Noorashimah-- Please visit KeADILan (PKR) trilingual website: Malay: http://www.keadilanrakyat.org/, English: http://en.keadilanrakyat.org/ , & Chinese: http://cn.keadilanrakyat.org/; Advisor Anwar Ibrahim's blog: http://www.anwaribrahimblog.com/ ; Info Chief, Tian Chua's blog: http://www.tianchua.net/; Cikgu Lee’s Blog: http://www.cikgulee-kajang.blogspot.com/ ; if you find them worth reading, do help us promote them to your friends.