2 candlelight vigils planned for tonight

Two candlelight vigils will be held tonight to protest the arrest of three individuals under the draconian Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.

Opposition party DAP, whose parliamentarian Teresa Kok was nabbed late last night, is holding a vigil outside its headquarters in Taman Paramount, Petaling Jaya at 7.30pm.

According to the DAP, the vigil is to express “solidarity” with the ISA detainees.

Meanwhile, another vigil is being planned at 8.30pm outside the Bukit Aman national police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The ‘Remember Sept 13' vigil, which is being organised by the Anti-ISA Movement (GMI), will take place at the entrance of the police headquarters.

“Let's fight for a better Malaysia without ISA,” said GMI in a press release issued early this morning.

The three were arrested in separate operations consisting of police teams from Bukit Aman in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Details Still Sketchy

Controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who has targeted government figures on his website Malaysia Today, was the first to be taken into custody at 1.10pm.

Tan Hoon Cheng (right), a reporter for the Chinese-language Sin Chew Daily, was later arrested at about 8.30pm after reporting on an outburst from an Umno chieftain who called the ethnic Chinese community "squatters".

Meanwhile Kok, the Selangor senior state executive councillor and Seputeh parliamentarian, was arrested at 11.18pm just outside her condominium after attending a Mooncake festival at her constituency office.

While details are sketchy, Kok has been defending herself against allegations that she complained about the noise of morning prayers at a mosque in her state seat of Kinrara. She has said the accusation is "preposterous".

Another mosque which was caught in the azan controversy, Masjid Kota Damansara, has clarified to Malaysiakini that a damaged amplifier had resulted in the calls to prayers to be made without the aid of a PA system