Eight activists nabbed by the police over Malaysia Day demonstration. They were highlighting issues in the “Pandang ke Sabah” rally, co-organised by several student groups and attended about 100 participants.
The demonstration was meant to draw the government’s attention towards their 10 demands for the state. They called on the government to provide better education, eradicate poverty, respect native land, and provide more job opportunities and more housing for the people.
They also demanded an end to the stateless people issue, the need for a better public transportation system and highlighted environmental and security concerns, including in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) area.
Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman has pledged his support to the eight activists arrested by police in a protest earlier this morning, despite criticism from deputy home minister Datuk Azis Jamman against the event.
Quoting Malay Mail’s report of the arrest, the youth and sports minister who just wrapped up a town hall session with youths in Kota Kinabalu said on Twitter that he is on the way to the police station to meet the activists.
“In the new Malaysia, the right to peaceful protest should be safeguarded even if it’s against the ruling government’s interest,” he said.
Meanwhile, Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamad Sabu has defended his party’s Sabah Youth chief’s arrest after a street protest here this morning.
The defence minister said street protests are part of a democratic nation, and he himself had been in the same position many times before when he was part of the Opposition.
“It’s a normal thing in a democratic country. I myself have been arrested tens of times before, in the name of pursuing democracy. It’s normal, not a big deal,” he told reporters after meeting Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
Sources: Malaymail.com, freemalaysiatoday.com