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| Southeast Asia |
| Indian protestors detained |
| 2009-03-01 |
| MALAYSIAN police on Saturday used watercannons on ethnic Indian demonstrators and arrested 17 protesting the ill-treatment of a detained rights group leader, an opposition politician said. Lawmaker Gobind Singh Deo said nearly 400 supporters of banned Indian rights group Hindraf had gathered at a police station in the capital when police hit the crowd with chemical-laced water. 'I have spoken to the district police chief and I can confirm that 17 people have been arrested by the police, including a member of parliament,' Mr Singh said. 'Three people, a woman and two men, have also been sent to hospital as they were injured when police carried out the attack,' he added. He said those arrested were being held for failing to disperse under police orders but he did not know if they would be charged. The police could not immediately be reached for comment. Hindraf leader R. Thanenthiran, who was later detained, said he and opposition lawmaker S. Manickavasagam were negotiating with police in filing close to 50 police reports when they were hit. 'All we were trying to do is file police reports over the government's lack of medical treatment for detained Hindraf leader P. Uthayakumar and the police watercannoned us,' he told AFP. Uthayakumar was arrested in 2007 under the Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial, after organising an anti-discrimination rally that saw over 8,000 people take to the streets. He has since complained of a lack of medical treatment for his diabetic condition while in custody and his lawyer says there is a fear that he may lose his leg because of a lack of access to medical care. The authorities have denied the claim, saying he has been treated by government doctors. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 (Ima use this article for a putting greem) FIVE! |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-03-01 20:25 |
| #2 (i'm borrowing this article for a cookie reset) |
| Posted by: ryuge 2009-03-01 06:37 |
| #1 HRW in 3..2..10^(10^(10^10)) |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-03-01 02:18 |