The youth wing of Barisan Nasional’s ethnic Indian component party MIC has joined the chorus of voices publicly condemning yesterday’s arrest of PKR vice-president and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.
MIC Youth chief C Sivarraajh expressed his dismay over the detention and sedition investigation on the daughter of jailed Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
“The arrest broke the camel’s back for me,” he told The Rakyat Post today.
“An MP should not be arrested while speaking in Parliament or on the way to Parliament. He or she enjoys immunity against any action under any laws, otherwise what is the purpose of having a Parliament in the first place?
“The arrest is reprehensible and a disgrace to Malaysia especially in this era of freedom and free expression.”
He added that the high-profile arrest had damaged Malaysia’s global standing and the country’s ongoing campaign to promote moderation.
He also opined that what made the arrest especially outrageous was his perception that Nurul Izzah was ambushed into giving herself up to the police, in that the PDRM had requested her presence at the Dang Wangi police station to give a statement on the recent #KitaLawan mass rally, and used that pretext to detain her on unrelated charges.
Nurul Izzah is expected to be charged under the Sedition Act 1948, following her remarks in Parliament’s opening session on the “unconstitutionality” and “political motivations” of her father’s sodomy conviction and incarceration on February 10.
“This arrest and its experience would only make Nurul more tenacious and committed. It’s good for a budding leader,” Sivarraajh said.
“The father (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) has been sent to jail, now the daughter too. Who is next?”
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