URGENT APPEAL- Release Ong Jing Cheng and Yap Heng Lung Immediately!

Reprint from http://demamalaysia.wordpress.com/

Ong Jing Cheng, (a graduate student from USM, also Secretary of Administration of DEMA and coordinator of EMPOWER) together with Yap Heng Lung (fresh graduate student from USM and Coordinator of Student Politics Department of DEMA) were charged under Penal Code 447 for trespassing University Malaya (UM). Both of them were detained overnight at Pantai Police Station and is believed to be remanded the next day.

Chronology

Time	Incident
12/7/09 (Sunday) 8.00pm	Ong Jing Cheng and Yap Heng Lung (two DEMA activists and graduate students from USM) went to University Malaya (UM) to meet their friend at Academy of Islamic Studies (API). Unfortunately their motorcycle broke down before they reach. So they had to walk to their meeting place. Three UM security guards stopped them and asked their reasons to be there as according to the guards, API is a “Malay place” and therefore Chinese should not be there.
8.15pm	The security guards contacted another seven officers to come and surrounded Ong and Yap. Ong and Yap were forced to follow the officers back to the security department for trespassing UM. When Ong and Yap refused to follow the instruction, the officers called the police. Police came and brought both Ong and Yap to Pantai Police Station.
8.35pm	Ong and Yap reached the police station. Police accepted the report from the UM security officers, accusing Ong and Yap as trespassers in UM. Also, the police found a memorandum of EMPOWER issued to Prime Minister on “Making a Street Safe” on their motorcycle and suspected that they were trying to protest. (*Ong Jing Cheng is a coordinator of EMPOWER-Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor) Police rejected the request of Ong and Yap to lodge a report on the security guards who harassed them without reasonable excuse.
11.00pm	Both Ong and Yap were detained overnight by the police and were charged under Penal Code 447.

What Can You Do?

1. Fax the sample letter below to Bukit Aman Police Headquarter:

Fax number: 03 - 2070 7500

2. Call Pantai Police Station to ask about the case and demand immediate release of Ong and Yap:

Tel: 03-2282 2222 or 03-2282 4786

Sample Letter

Please state your concern and protest and faxing the letter to Bukit Aman Police Headquarter and CC to Vice Chancellor of University Malaya (UM) and Ministry of Higher Education.

To:

Tan Sri Musa Hassan

Inspector-General of Police

Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia

Bukit Aman

50560 Kuala Lumpur.

Release Ong Jing Cheng and Yap Heng Lung Immediately!

We/I from ______________________, oppose the action of the police officers in detaining Ong Jing Cheng and Yap Heng Lung without reasonable basis.

2. We call for immediate release of Ong and Yap because:

i. Both of them were only meeting friends at UM without any other motive or intention.

ii. Local universities are public places, not security zone. Public should be welcomed to enter and utilize the facilities in the university.

iii. Police is an executive force and they should be accountable and independent. In this case, the police worked in coop with the UM security officers and there was an obvious bias in handling the case by rejecting the request from Ong and Yap to lodge a police report against the security officers.

3. Public Universities are opened zone for public to enter. Security officers of UM should not be intimidating Ong and Yap for trespassing UM because both of them were only visiting a friend at UM. The accuse was not standing on a reasonable ground as the officers claimed that Academy of Islamic Studies (API) is a place for Malay race and any Chinese presented at the venue are to be suspected. The responsibility of security officers is to help maintain the order of UM, not abusing one’s power to find fault on targeted people without concrete basis. This will continue to create fear among the students.

4. The police, on the other hand, should play a role as an independent force to execute the law. In this case, the police was bias towards the UM security officers by only accepting their reports, detaining Ong and Yap without proper investigation.

5. We urge the authority to:

i. Release Ong Jing Cheng and Yap Heng Lung immediately.

ii. Withdraw all charges on Ong and Yap.

iii. Take action on security officers of UM who were not professional.

Yours faithfully,

______________

( )

CC:

Ghauth Jasmon,
Vice-Chancellor
University of Malaya
50603 Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA
Tel. No : +603 7967 3213 / 3510 / +603 7956 8400
Fax No.: +603 7955 2975
Email: vc@um.edu.my / ghauth@gmail.com

Y.B. DATO’ SERI MOHAMED KHALED BIN NORDIN

Menteri Pengajian Tinggi,
Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi,
Aras 7, Blok E3, Parcel E,
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan,
62505 PUTRAJAYA.

Tel : +603-8883 5010

Faks : +603-8889 1952

Emel : menteri@mohe.gov.my