POLICE intimidation of activists will not be tolerated, as the force respects freedom of speech, said Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador.

He said such behaviour will not go unchecked, especially if it concerns Special Branch officers.

“I will check on this and act on it. I’m not sure if an incident has occurred, but I will call the particular officer,” he said after attending the Hari Raya open house at Pulapol today.

He was referring to two activists’ recent claims that they had been intimidated by police officers.

The activists, one with the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) and another from Universiti Malaya’s (UM) student body, said they had been intimidated over events held in solidarity with demonstrators in Hong Kong, which is currently seeing unrest over a proposed extradition law.

It was reported that KLSCAH Youth chief Siah Kwong Liang and outgoing UM Association of New Youth (Umany) president Wong Yan Ke were summoned separately by police on the alleged intimidation by an SB officer.

Siad had said the police asked him for his views on China and the Communist Party of China, among others, before an officer named “Tuan Tan” joined.

“He told me: ‘The Special Branch has vast powers. I can send a letter to the Registry of Societies to disband your society’.

“‘I can call your employer and ask if they still want you to work for them. We can even influence your studies. You can’t graduate and get a job’,” Malaysiakini had reported Siah as saying. – July 7, 2019.