Beginning Of Najib's Crackdown? First Casualty Wong Chin Huat

To deter democracy from infesting, what do you do. I really do not have an answer but it looks like in Malaysia Boleh style, arrest may be the only answer.

The following is cut and paste from YB Lim Kit Siang's Blog.

Civil society activist Wong Chin Huat was arrested under the Sedition Act at his home in Taman Sri Sentosa in Kuala Lumpur at about 8 pm tonight.

Is it because of the “1Black Malaysia” campaign?

The following is a Malaysiakini report on Wong’s arrest:

Activist Wong arrested under Sedition Act

Poll reform group Bersih spokesperson Wong Chin Huat has been arrested under the Sedition Act tonight by a team of police at his home in Taman Sri Sentosa in Kuala Lumpur.

According to his lawyer Edmund Bon, the activist was arrested at 8pm after a police report was lodged today.

“I tried negotiating with the police officer (on the phone) but they won’t listen to me. They didn’t want to tell under what section of the Sedition Act (that the arrest was made) and who the complainant is.”

Bon has since unable to contact Wong. According to him, he could be taken to the police headquarters in Bukit Aman.

It is not clear whether Wong’s arrest is linked to a press conference he called earlier today.

At the press conference, Wong (photo) had urged the public to wear black on May 7, to protest the Perak state government takeover by Barisan Nasional which has been seen as undemocratic and unconstitutional.

Wong issued a statement on behalf of Bersih, saying that the protest was aimed at newly-minted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is widely credited as the mastermind behind the February power grab.

The Bersih’s campaign slogan “1BlackMalaysia: Democracy first, elections now”, is a play on Najib’s “1Malaysia: People first, performance now” tagline.

May 7 is also the date where BN Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir is convening the Perak state legislative assembly to oust speaker V Sivakumar and pass motions to legitimise his government.

‘Paint every town, village black’

In his statement today, Wong said that the 1BlackMalaysia campaign is a peaceful, yet powerful message of “civil disobedience”.

“We want to let them know that people are the politicians’ bosses and no politician can disregard public opinion and escape punishment in the next general election,” he said.

He urged the public to “paint every state, territory, town and village black” with clothes, headbands, hats, turbans, veils, armbands, ribbons and stickers.

“Let us be united in one black colour and let’s show the world that the 1Malaysia under Najib is 1BlackMalaysia living in darkness,” he said.

Bersih is a coalition of opposition parties and NGOs who have been pressuring the authorities to improve election laws and administration.

Full text of the press release issued by BERSIH this morning in relation to the ongoing Perak constitutional crisis and the much anticipated sitting of the Perak state legislative assembly on 7th May, 2009.

We the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (BERSIH) call upon all Malaysians to wear black to work, to school, in play or at home the coming May 7th (Thursday) to present “1BLACKMalaysia” to Prime Minister Najib Razak as our strongest protest to the on-going Perak coup he has orchestrated.

Despite the court’s scheduled hearing on the legality of Zambry Abdul Kadil’s legality as the Menteri Besar on May 5th and 6th, a sitting for the Perak State Legislature has been scheduled to begin on May 7th bypassing the speaker V. Sivakumar.

A motion has also been tabled to replace the speaker, who has vigorously defended the Legislature’s rights and power throughout the coup, with R. Ganesan, a non-lawmaker from the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC).

To prevent the public from knowing what would happen in the assembly, a “media curfew” was imposed whereby only 13 selected media outlets are granted access, on top of a general lockdown of the city of Ipoh, where the Legislature is seated. While the Zambry regime had since retracted the “media curfew” under strong public outcry, the initial move reveals a regime that fears public scrutiny.

These latest developments show total disregard of Najib Razak on rule of law and constitutional democracy in Malaysia. He has also ignored the voters’ wrath on unconstitutional means of power grab, as showed in the Bukit Gantang by-election where the margin for the ousted MB Mohammad Nizar increased by over 2000 votes.

Najib’s slogan: “1Malaysia, people first, performance now” is now a cruel joke on Malaysians. Is this the old “1Authoritarian-and-CorruptMalaysia” getting worse? What “people first” when people are forced to be blind, deaf, mute and immobile with the media curfew and city lockdown? What “performance now” when the “performance” in law-breaking may never be known?

In response to all these, we urge all Malaysians to wear black on May 7 th. It will be a peaceful but powerful message of civil disobedience that we the people are politicians’ bosses and no politicians defiant of public opinion can escape punishment at the next poll. Civil disobedience is a peaceful act that every citizen can participate and make a difference. In history, civil disobedience led by Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King and the Polish people had successfully ended tyranny and injustice without bloodshed or disruption.

Let’s paint every state and territory, every town and village black with our clothes, headbands, hats, turbans, veils, armbands, ribbons and stickers on that day. Let everyone see a sea of black walking into an office, a market, a mosque, a temple, a church, a college, a park, a bus, a commuter or LRT car, a ferry or an aeroplane .

Let us be united in one BLACK colour and let show the world that the 1Malaysia under Najib Razak is “1BLACKMalaysia” living in darkness.

Let’s show the world that Malaysians will stand up against any invasion of democracy, freedom and peace by unscrupulous politicians. We will not allow coup be the way to power in Perak, or anywhere in Malaysia. No one shall take away our democracy, freedom and peace. Najib may hijack our unelected institutions like the judiciary, civil service, police and Election Commission, but he will never win our heart and mind. And he is no reformist until he dares to face elections in Perak.

Let us show Najib in one colour - “1BlackMalaysia!“. Let us tell him in one voice for Malaysia: “Democracy First!” Let us pose him the one solution for Perak: “Elections now!“

Yes, Mr Prime Minister of Malaysia, and the World, listen to us: 1BlackMalaysia! Democracy First! Elections Now!