Malaysia: Update: Anti-GST protesters released!
By Socialist Party of Malaysia/Parti Sosialis Malaysia(PSM)
UPDATE March 26, 2015 -- All the Malaysian anti-GST protesters who were detained on March 23 have now been released on RM3000 bail. They are to appear in court again on May 14. Thanks for all the protest letters!
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March 24, 2015 – PSM, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal – Police used excessive force in the recent crackdown on protesters against the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is scheduled to be implemented on 1 April 2015.
On March 23, 2015, the Coalition Against GST, which is led by the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM), the Oppressed People’s Network (JERIT) and a number of civil society groups, staged a sit-in protest at the Customs Office in Kelana Jaya, to demand answers to more than 100 questions raised by many Malaysians regarding the GST. The director of the Customs Office refused to answer these questions and the police reacted violently against the peaceful sit-in.
Eighty people were arrested during the police violence at the Customs Office. More than 50 protesters were later released but another 31 anti-GST protesters and those arrested for protesting against the clampdown are still being detained by the police. The police have even applied for a further remand of these 31 anti-GST protesters.
The 31 detainees are:
1. Megat Khairul Anuar b. Razali
2. Suhail bin Wan Azahar
3. Azhar bin Achil
4. Md.Sani b Md.Shah
5. Mohd Nasaie Ismail
6. Ahmad Syukri Ab Razab
7. Arutchelvan (secretary-general of the PSM)
8. Suresh Kumar (PSM Cameron branch secretary)
10. Akmal Noradzmi
11. Edy (SAMM)
12. Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj (MP Sungai Siput, PSM)
13. Nasir
14. Khairol Najib
15. Dr Hatta Ramli (MP Kuala Krai, PAS)
16. Che'gu Bard (SAMM)
17. Pian (SAMM)
18. Tan Chee Hooi
19. Nagenteran (PSM)
20. Bawani KS (PSM youth chairperson)
21. Sarasvathy (PSM deputy chairperson)
22. Soh Sook Hwa (PSM deputy treasurer)
23. Auntie Ann @ Auntie Bersih
24. Nashita Md Noor
25. Kogi
26. Adam Festival
27. Yazid bin Khairul Azman
28. Faizal
29. Afnizam
30. Ahmad Heyecal
31. Khalid Mohd Ismath (PSM)
The GST is a regressive tax that will force all the people in Malaysia, including the poor, to pay more taxes in order to reduce taxes on the rich. The GST will burden the low-income population and worsen the widening gap between the rich and the poor in Malaysia.
We hence call upon fraternal organisations around the world to send protest letters to the following (please find a sample letter attached and feel free to amend if needed). Please send a copy of your protest letter to int.psm@gmail.com (for record-keeping purposes).
You can also hold a protest in front of the embassy of Malaysia in your country to demand the immediate release of ALL anti-GST protesters.
You can find the location of Malaysian embassies around the world here: http://www.kln.gov.my/web/guest/malaysian-mission
Watch video of the riot police attack: https://www.facebook.com/
See pics of the police violence at https://www.facebook.com/
Show your solidarity with the hashtag #bantahGST
If you have an enquiries, please contact Chon Kai, the coordinator of PSM International Bureau, at +60195669518 or email:int.psm@gmail.com
Sample letter
We/I condemn strongly the violent crackdown on the peaceful anti-GST sit-in protesters at Customs Office in Kelana Jaya on March 23, which resulted the arrest of 80 protesters. Twenty-six of the protesters are still under detention while the others were released that night.
We/I in see the crackdown as evidence of severe repression on the freedom of assembly in Malaysia and an unwillingness of the authorities to listen to the people.
Hence, we/I call upon the government of Malaysia:
To release all the anti-GST protesters immediately and unconditionally.
Suspend the implementation of the GST.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name or organisation.]
Please send to the following:
Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia
Office of The Prime Minister of Malaysia
Main Block, Perdana Putra Building
Federal Government Administrative Centre
62502, Putrajaya
MALAYSIA
FAX: +603 8888 3444
E-mail: ppm@pmo.gov.my
Twitter: @NajibRazak
Dato' Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi, Minister of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Block D1 & D2, Complex D,
Administrative Center,
Federal Territory, 62546
Putrajaya
MALAYSIA
Fax : +603-88891613/ +603-88891610
Tan Sri Dato' Sri Khalid bin Abu Bakar
Inspector-General of Police
Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,
50560 Bukit Aman,
Kuala Lumpur
Email: rmp@rmp.gov.my
Twitter: @KBAB51