Despite The Rain, Students Of #OccupyParliament Won't Budge Till Najib Steps Down
The movement started after Putrajaya refused their memorandum appealing for Najib to step down as Prime Minister.
By Rohini Rajaratnam — 26 Aug 2015, 05:39 PM — Updated over 9 years ago
More #OccupyParliament students gather to protest undaunted by arrest
The arrest of 17 university students yesterday outside Parliament for participating in the #OccupyParliament sit-in will not deter others from continuing their protest to pressure Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to resign from his position, says the group's coordinator Luqman Nul Hakim Zul Razali.
Luqman yesterday said the decision to continue their demonstration outside parliament tonight was made after their demands were not met despite their 30-hour sit-in that started Monday.
"Therefore we will continue the occupy parliament sit-in until our demands are met. This struggle will not end even though there are only two or three of us left," he said in a statement tonight.
themalaysianinsider.com
According to Luqman, the arrest was not a shocker as they as they had expected consequences to their actions. The students are taking turns to maintain the protest and had vowed not to leave the place until Najib stepped down. Tonight, 10 students will be back to continue the protest.
themalaymailonline.com
27 AUG: 16 protestors of #OccupyParliament have been freed by the High Court
A High Court here erupted in cheers when judge Datuk Mariah Ahmad allowed the challenge against the remand orders on 16 of 17 #OccupyParliament participants, shortening the term from three days to just two.
The decision effectively saw the 16, who were picked up outside the Parliament building Tuesday night, freed. They will be released from the Jinjang central lock-up later tonight.
The remaining participant, however, will have to stay under lock and key for the remainder of the three-day remand, having been nabbed under Section 353 of the Penal Code for obstructing a police officer from performing his duties.
The others were held for allegedly violating Section 124(B) of the Penal Code on the disruption of parliamentary processes, as well the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012.
themalaymailonline.com
Mariah also offered some advice to the students after delivering her decision
“So, all of you are the youngsters? You must remember that in upholding the truth, you must follow the law."
"No one will be angry if you follow the right way. We have to first be right ourselves, or else, how to uphold the truth? You must remember,” she told the elated youths.
Her advice was then met with cries of “thank yous” and claps from the packed courtroom.
themalaymailonline.com
26 AUG: 17 #OccupyParliament students face 3-day remand following last night's impulsive arrest
Some of the lawyers representing the students, led by Malaysan Bar president Steven Thiru (second right), are seen after the remand hearing at Jinjang Police Station.
Image via The Malay MailA law aimed to curb anti-terrorist activities was today used to extend the detention of 17 students arrested last night after their sit-in campaign at Parliament house here to pressure Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak into resigning from office.
“The magistrate ordered a three-day remand. They are being investigated for a committed offence under 124B of the Penal Code and the Peaceful Assembly Act,” The Malaysian Bar president Steven Thiru said outside the Jinjang district police station.
themalaymailonline.com
Originally the investigating officer asked for a 7-day remand order, however the lawyers argued the police did not have any grounds to file such a claim.
“Police have misconstrued and misunderstood 124(B). We challenged it as they did not prove the students actions were violent or unconstitutional. They have no evidence that the students were being violent and they also have not satisfied what is unconstitutional about a peaceful assembly outside Parliament,” Steven said.
The Bar Council chief added that lawyers will also be filing for a challenge on the remand received by the 17 students today afternoon.
malaysiakini.com
25 Aug, 10.30pm: After camping outside the Parliament for more than 24 hours, 17 of the #OccupyParliament youths were unceremoniously arrested by the authorities
The students, 14 men and three women were arrested under Section 124(B) of the Penal Code for being members of an unlawful assembly. The last person arrested was an activist that was taking shots of the items that were confiscated by the police.
This was followed by the police officers trying to put a stop to a journalist documenting the arrest and the said media personnel was eventually seen leaving the scene with a bleeding on his leg.
In response to the haste arrest, Sentul OCPD R Munusamy, out of the 30 vest clad police officers that turned up claimed that the students were asked to leave with a prior warning of about 24 hours
"Forcing someone to resign through street demonstration is illegal," Munusamy announced.
malaysiakini.com
Several prominent supporters including Gerakan Harapan Baru chief Mohamad Sabu, PKR vice-president Tian Chua, PKR's Radzlan Jalal and a number of lawyers also turned up after hearing about the arrests.
After the detainees were taken to the Kuala Lumpur Central Police Lock- Up in Jinjang, the students are even more determined to continue with their movement, be it at the parliament or outside the lock- up
"We will not stop our demands," Kesatuan Mahasiswa Malaysia secretary Nazrul Nazir said in front of the barricaded compound near the lock-up complex as about 50 students, NGO members, politicians and members of the public stood in solidarity with the arrested students in Jinjang through the wee hours of this morning, while another group of students slept on cardboard boxes by the roadside.
malaysiakini.com
The #OccupyParliament movement was brought on by a failed attempt to hand over a memorandum calling PM Najib Razak's resignation.
25 Aug, 4pm: The pressure pushing for PM Najib Razak's resignation has magnified following a walkout staged by a group of students dubbed #OccupyParliament. These students are camping in front of the Parliament building and are refusing to leave until the Prime Minister steps down.
“We are in front of Parliament with our demands asking the prime minister to step down and also asking that after he steps down, all MPs gather in Parliament to give us an alternative about the current issues. We will not leave Parliament until our demands are met,” student activist Fahmi Zainol said.
themalaymailonline.com
The movement started after the group of students attempted to hand over a memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office urging Najib to step down, which Putrajaya declined to accept
The student activist also noted that there are no police personnel present where the students were currently gathered but that the Parliament security officers had “taken note” of their presence.
yahoo.com
Despite the rain, about 10 students are currently camped outside the gates of the Parliament building and have pledged to continue with the #OccupyParliament movement well-beyond this weekend’s Bersih 4 rally
“Before Bersih or even after Bersih, it doesn’t matter, we will continue as long as Najib is in power. It will continue as it is crucial for students, who don’t have hidden agendas, to defend their country." he said.
“It’s not very many (of us) and we’re all from various movements but… it’s important because we can trigger change. If the opposition wanted to voice their opinions, people just see them as members of the opposition, and maybe others are busy with work so we take this as our responsibility,” Fahmi added.
yahoo.com
According to student activist Fahmi Zainol, approximately 50 to 100 students will take turns sitting in front of Parliament every day until Najib steps down and the country’s federal lawmakers get together to discuss solutions for various issues plaguing the country
To keep the protest going, the student activists are appealing to the public for donations in the form of food, tarps, tents, and candles to continue with their sit-in, adding that they have already had several people ask for bank account numbers for donation purposes
#OccupyParliament would be the second occupy movement that has taken root in Kuala Lumpur, the first being #OccupyDataran
#OccupyDataran staged their camp-in after some 500 tertiary education students marched through Kuala Lumpur on April 14, 2012 to demand the abolition of the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) and calling for free tertiary education.
