On 11 December 2007, Malaysian police arrested 26 people, including
a teenager, who were part of a civil society delegation to
Parliament to object to the rushed manner of a proposed
constitutional amendment to extend the tenure of the Election
Commission chair.

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH), which is
composed of 67 non-governmental groups and opposition parties, had
made known their intention to formally present a memorandum to the
House, stating their objections. On 10 December, citing security
concerns, the police obtained a court order prohibiting BERSIH from
entering the Parliament premises.

On 11 December, from as early as 8.30 a.m. (local time), police
mounted roadblocks across the capital and in front of the
Parliament building. They started arresting people shortly after
10.00 a.m. (local time) when a few BERSIH leaders unsuccessfully
tried to go past the Parliament roadblock. A few who managed to
sneak past the police and presented the memorandum to opposition
Members of Parliament were arrested on their way out.

All arrested were taken to the Police Contingent Headquarters in
the capital for questioning before being released in two batches at
4:00 p.m. (local time) and 10:00 p.m. Among them were Gayathry
Venkiteswaran, Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) executive
director; Wong Chin Huat, chair of the Writers Alliance for Media
Independence (WAMI); Yap Swee Seng, the executive director of human
rights group SUARAM; Mien Lor, programme officer of Community
Communications Centre of Malaysia (KOMAS); Khalid Ibrahim, People's
Justice Party (PKR) secretary general; Dr. Dzulkifli Ahmad of
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS); Dr. Hatta Ramli, PAS treasurer;
Nuridah Mohd. Salleh, PAS Women's chief; Dr. Lo' Lo' Ghazali, PAS
central committee member; Tian Chua, PKR information chief; Dr.
Mohd. Nasir Hashim, Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM) pro-tem
president; S. Arutchelvan, pro-tem PSM secretary-general; and S.
Sivarajan, PSM pro-tem central committee member. Seventeen of them
are out on police bail and will have to present themselves at the
Kuala Lumpur Magistrates' Court on 18 December.

SEAPA is extremely disappointed with the government of Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi for preventing citizens from meeting their elected
representatives at the august house to convey their views about an
important amendment to the Constitution that was scheduled for
final reading that day. The group's mission is surely a fundamental
democratic right allowed in any functioning democracy.

In a speech the prime minister gave at a global lecture in the
administrative capital Putrajaya on 10 December, he asked
Malaysians to think of "what the country should be". Yet the very
next day, Abdullah allowed the police to stop 67 groups, who
represent the aspiration for a true democracy through free and fair
elections, from doing just what he has asked, at the highest
legislative assembly, no less.

The latest arrests mark a worrying trend of increasing official
intolerance as Malaysians are starting to invoke their
seldom-exercised right to freedom of assembly as a means of
expressing their grievances, which is not being conveyed by the
mainstream media. The Malaysian mainstream media are forced to toe
the official line as they are gagged by restrictive laws and a
licensing regime established to ostensibly preserve harmony in the
multi-ethnic, multi-religious nation. Frustrated at the lack of
democratic space in general, civil society groups are taking to the
streets despite police warnings, a spate of arrests, encounters
with riot police brutality and even threats to use the draconian
Internal Security Act which allows for detention without trial.