POLICE ARREST OPPOSITION LEADERS ATTEMPTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 001695

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STATE FOR EAP/MTS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/11/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM ASEC MY
SUBJECT: POLICE ARREST OPPOSITION LEADERS ATTEMPTING
ELECTION REFORM PROTEST

REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 1694 - EMBASSY RAISES CONCERNS

B. KUALA LUMPUR 1691 - ANOTHER PROTEST PLANNED

C. KUALA LUMPUR 1684 - GOM TRIES TO KEEP LID ON

Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark
for reasons 1.4 (b and d).


1. (SBU) Summary: Malaysian police on December 11 arrested
24 opposition party and NGO activists, organized under the
Bersih electoral reform coalition, in connection with a
planned rally at Parliament. Police released at least seven
of the activists later in the day. Those arrested included
five senior officials from the Islamist opposition party PAS
and three from Anwar Ibrahim's PKR party. Six Bersih
representatives managed to enter Parliament and present a
petition contesting a pending constitutional amendment that
in effect would extend the term of the current Election
Commission chairman. Fewer than 200 people actually assembled
for the planned march to Parliament, and the crowd dispersed
relatively quickly after the arrests of the group's senior
leaders. As of early evening December 11, charges have not
yet been filed against any of the participants, and several
key leaders were released after police booking. End Summary.


2. (SBU) Malaysian police arrested 24 persons, including at
least 16 principal opposition and NGO leaders on December 11
in connection with a planned demonstration at Parliament
related to electoral reform. Those arrested were acting
under the umbrella grouping Coalition for Free and Fair
Elections (Bersih),which on November 10 had carried out
Malaysia's largest political protest since 1998. The
opposition party officials and activists had planned a rally
to protest Government efforts to push through a
constitutional amendment which would allow current Election
Commission (EC) Chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman to remain
in office after his 65th birthday on December 31. Bersih
alleges Abdul Rashid is solidly aligned with the ruling
Barisan Nasional coalition. Rashid's comments on December 8
that "there is only one regime capable of running the
country" and the arrest of organizers of a December 9 Human
Rights Day march further emboldened Bersih to defy police
orders not to assemble. Notwithstanding Bersih's protest,
Parliament's lower house passed the constitutional amendment
before close of business on December 11.


3. (SBU) Late on December 10 police obtained a restraining
order against the organizers and participants of the December
11 Bersih rally from entering the vicinity of Parliament and
warned the public that demonstrators would be arrested on
sight. In the early morning hours of December 11, police
erected roadblocks on every street leading to Parliament and
stationed riot police both at Parliament and along the
primary thoroughfare leading from the center of town to
Parliament. Although Bersih organizers had called for some
2,000 protesters to participate, fewer than 200 appeared to
be on hand according to observations by poloff. Police moved
in quickly to arrest key leaders of the rally, dissuading the
growing crowd from continuing with a march towards
Parliament. Riot police were not deployed against the small
group, and there were no injuries or incidents of violence.


4. (SBU) Six Berish representatives were able to pass police
checkpoints, enter and present their protest memorandum to
opposition parliamentarians who were standing by to receive
it. People's Justice Party (PKR) president and wife of Anwar
Ibrahim, Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, and Islamic Party of
Malaysia (PAS) MP Salahuddin Ayub received the petition and
pledged to present it to the Speaker of the House (PAS and
PKR are leading Bersih components). After delivering the
memorandum, police arrested the six Bersih leaders within the
Parliament building and detained them for approximately three
hours. Among those arrested and later released were: Yap
Swee Seng, Executive Director of Suara Rakyat Malaysia
(SUARAM); Wong Chin Huat, Writers Alliance for Media
Independence (WAMI); V. Gayathry, Executive Director for the
Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ); Mien Lor, Program
Director for the human rights NGO Pusat Komas; and Dr.
Dzulkifli Ahmad, PAS Central Working Committee member and
Party Research Center Director.


5. (SBU) Police found themselves in a bit of a pickle after
arresting the six Bersih activists on the grounds of
Parliament. Opposition parliamentarians protested loudly
that police had never been granted authority to detain

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citizens petitioning their government inside the walls of
parliament and that such action defied the authority of
parliament to invite the public to meet with their
representatives. Human Rights activist Mien Lor later told
the press that "the police treated us well and even
apologized for their 'mistake'. They said they were acting on
orders from people above, but did not explain what the
mistake was."


6. (SBU) According to press reports and information from
Embassy contacts, in the course of December 11, police
arrested five senior officials from the Islamist opposition
party PAS: Mustafa Ali, Central Working Committee member and
PAS Election Director; Dr. Lo' Lo' Ghazali, Central Working
Committee member; Dr. Mohd. Hatta Mohd. Ramli, Party
Treasurer; Nuridah Mohd. Salleh, Women's Chief; Nasruddin
Tantawi, Deputy Youth Chief. As of the time of publication,
police had already released Mustafa Ali.


7. (SBU) Police also arrested three senior officials from the
PKR party of Anwar Ibrahim: Khalid Ibrahim, Secretary
General; Ang Hiok Gai, Deputy Secretary General; and Tian
Chua, Party Information Chief. (Note: In apparent
coordination with police efforts in downtown Kuala Lumpur,
immigration officials at Kuala Lumpur International Airport
detained PKR's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim upon his return
to Malaysia from a trip to Turkey on December 11. End Note.)
In addition, police arrested three leaders of the Socialist
Party of Malaysia (PSM),a very small party without
representation in Parliament. Police later released PKR
Secretary General Khalid Ibrahim based on evidence that he

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was attempting to obey police orders and leave the area at
the time of his arrest.


8. (C) Comment: The speedy arrest of Bersih leaders was
fully expected, and now appears to be the government's
preferred manner of dealing with public rallies critical of
the government. Leaderless, today's rally did not last long,
and there is no doubt that previous arrests and weighty
prosecutions are affecting the resilience of some
oppositionists and activists. Nevertheless, we believe
opposition party leaders will attempt to organize more
protests over electoral issues, civil liberties and impending
price hikes.
KEITH