Bersih leader Maria is freed
Published on: Tuesday, November 29, 2016
PETALING JAYA: Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah, who was detained for 11 days under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), expressed joy and relief over her surprise release Monday.She was released at 5pm – a day before a habeas corpus hearing challenging her detention was to be heard in the High Court Tuesday.Maria thanked her supporters and the public for campaigning for her release.
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"I had no idea of how much was being done to fight for my release. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank all of you," she said.Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said she was taken to Bukit Aman where her release was processed. The IGP declined further comment.Speaking to reporters at her home, Maria said despite her release, she is mulling further legal action against the authorities over her detention.
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"Following the denial of requests to see my family and lawyers during my detention, I am considering legal action for what I feel is illegal detention."When I was in detention, I was being kept in circumstances where I had neither any idea of time nor direction.
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"It was meant to disorientate a person and it is very humiliating for anyone to go through it," she said, adding that the room she was held in was kept lit 24 hours a day.She said during her detention, she was interrogated non-stop for hours on various issues including the Global Bersih movement, the Open Source Foundation (OSF), Bersih 2.0's accounts and its social media management."For the first three days, I was questioned for almost the entire day, which probably began at about 9am and ended after 6pm," she said."After the fourth day, the daily interrogation became less ... to roughly about six hours," said the 60-year-old mother of three.Maria said despite her release, the authorities are still investigating the case and that she could be called up again if necessary.Police had detained Maria on Nov 18 under Section 124C of the Penal Code that criminalises the attempt to commit activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy, and invoked Sosma, which allows them to hold her without trial for up to 28 days.Police also raided the office of civil society group Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower), which Maria had formerly led and seized six boxes of documents said to be related to its accounts since 2013.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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