COMMENT | Journey to Bersih 5 - raid, arrest and Sosma

COMMENT | It was around 3.12pm, it was a Friday, 2016. Maria Chin Abdullah and I had just finished lunch at a restaurant below our office and were just discussing final preparations for Bersih 5.

I then headed to Malaysiakini office to deliver some T-shirts. As soon as I came back and walked into the office, the doorbell rang.

We rushed to the CCTV screen. I told Maria, "It’s Bukit Aman!" We looked at each other and Maria said, "I will open the office door. Everyone stay calm." There were about 10 of them.

Only one person was in uniform; the others were in plainclothes. We recognised some of the officers. They told us it’s a raid under Section 124C, therefore no warrant was needed.

Maria demanded a warrant, but they ignored us. I managed to tweet about what was happening.

Soon after that, my handphone was taken and others, too. They threatened to handcuff me because I was trying to answer an office phone call.

After raiding for two hours, hundreds of documents were confiscated, and 10 laptops and all our handphones were taken.

At that time, there were around 15 of us in the office, including Jay Jay Denis, Zoe Randhawa, Yap Pik Kuan, Maisara Amira, Shahrul Aman, Thomas Fann, and some others. R Sivarasah and Melissa Sasidaran, the lawyers who were with us, were asked to leave our office.

They were also threatened with arrest if they refused to leave.

At that time, I thought, "Oh, I won’t be alone in the lock-up. I was telling Jay Jay, we should ask for cell/room sharing. Hehe!"

Soon after the police ended their raid, they started returning everyone’s IC and handphones, except Maria’s and mine. Both of us were asked to follow the police to the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters for further investigation.

I remember we kept asking the police if we’re under arrest, but they refused to answer.

We were escorted by 10 police officers from our office to the police car. There were so many media friends outside our office while the rain was pouring on us.

I managed to say some words to the journalists before I got into the police car. As we arrived at the police station, both Maria and I were told that we’re under arrest.

Maria was arrested under Section 124B and I under Section 147 of the Penal Code.

Days before Nov 18, 2016, we (Chan Tsu Chong, Michael Cheah, Zoe Randhawa, Baira, Sara, and me) will always joke with Maria that she will be arrested under Sosma and we will be standing outside the prison every day with a candle.

Maria will laugh loudly and say, "Mandeep Singh, you will be joining me as well in jail." Maria being Maria, she laughed again and told me, "I told you so, I won’t be going alone. See, you are with me." We both laughed.

Eli Wong came with some nasi goreng, and both of us had some. Soon after, Maria’s family and my brother arrived, too. I managed to speak with my dad, Kristina, Adam Adli, and Hishamuddin Rais. I also broke the news to Hishamuddin that Dr Mahathir Mohamad was on the way back from Sudan to attend Bersih 5.

Soon after the documentation process was completed, both Maria and I were taken in different vehicles to the police station.

That was the last time I met Maria because she was taken to Jinjang and then was arrested under Sosma. I only knew about Maria’s arrest after meeting Tian Chua on Nov 20 in the Jinjang lock-up.

The funny part of the journey from Petaling Jaya to the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters (IPK) was me, a detainee, giving direction to the police on how to get to their destination. It was funny as they didn’t know the way.

Upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur, they politely asked me to allow them to handcuff me.

Different rooms

Knowing the procedure, I didn’t argue. But I asked not to be handcuffed behind my back because it will be painful.

As I arrived at the eighth floor of IPKL, I met S Arutchelvan. All of us were kept in different rooms.

I was interrogated from around 9pm until around 4am by almost 15-20 different police officers in a small room with the air conditioning in full blast.

The same questions were asked again and again by different officers. At around 12 midnight, a police officer came running to me with his phone, telling me, “Your brother wants to speak with you.” I was wondering, “My brother?” It was Ramkarpal Singh actually.

It then came to a point when I told the officers that I will not say anything more till I’m charged in court. I placed my head on the table and slept.

Around 6.30am, I was served with nasi lemak and then I met Safwan Anang, Anis Syafiqah, Ronnie Liu, and some baju merah folks as well.

Safwan and I were taken in the same van with 10 officers escorting us. All of us were taken to Jinjang. It was like a Hollywood movie journey as there were police patrol escorts, outriders, and also Special Actions Unit (UTK) personnel toting M16 guns and officers wearing balaclava.

The journey from IPK Kuala Lumpur to Jinjang was short. The city was empty.

As we arrived in Jinjang, Ramkarpal, Sangeet Kaur Deo, Eric Paulsen, Melissa, and a few other lawyers were already waiting for us.

It was like a mini-Bersih 5 at Jinjang because almost all the detainees were wearing Bersih 5 T-shirts. During the remand, Maria was not present.

I kept asking lawyers about Maria and they were informed by police that she would be in at the next hearing. Anis, who was sharing the same cell with Maria, said that Maria is still in the cell.

I really believed that she will be remanded separately.

As expected, all of us were remanded. We got two days. It was just to prevent us from participating in the Bersih rally.

Release day

I then went back to my cell. It felt like a blockbuster movie inside - the cell was fully booked. As I checked, I slept the whole day until around 4pm when the police came to record my statement again. He was polite and a gentleman. He told me, "You can choose to answer in court if you want to." And yes, I did that. He then told me, “Tahniah, it was a successful rally."

He showed me some photographs of the rally from his phone, too. After an hour, he sent me back to my cell and he left.

The next morning was our “release day.” As I reached the lower ground floor of the Jinjang lock-up, I saw Tian Chua, Hishamuddin Rais, Fahmi Reza, Howard Lee, and a few others. They were all in the "waiting room".

I ran to Tian Chua who told me: “We need to organise another rally for Maria." I asked him why? He then broke the news to me about Maria's detention under Sosma.

All of us were then taken to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in a Black Maria. The first batch of detainees was supposed to be released on Nov 20, with the second batch the next day.

At Dang Wangi, our lawyers brought us food and all of us had lunch together. Hishamuddin Rais and Tian Chua told me to inform Bersih not to appoint any acting chair while Maria is in jail, asserting that the movement will grow stronger with Maria in jail.

It was around 3pm when we were released. It was S Ambiga, Ramkarpal, Toh Kin Woon, Jay Jay Denis, and Amir Abd Hadi who were waiting for me at Dang Wangi.

I hugged Ambiga and I teared up because of Maria. I sensed then how it’s going to be a new battle and this time, it must be a real big one to get Maria out as quickly as possible.

As I walked out of Dang Wangi police station, my family and friends were waiting for me. My dad and my brother were there as well. I then called my mum and told her that I won’t be heading back home anytime soon as I had to start a new campaign for Maria.

I went to Bersih's office to get my car and headed home. After a quick shower, I found myself heading to Jinjang for the solidarity vigil for friends who were still in detention and for Maria, who, at that time, was detained in an unknown place.

MANDEEP SINGH is a former Bersih 2.0 secretariat manager

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.