STUDENT activists Asheeq Ali and Siti Nurrizah Dazali were released this morning after being detained for protesting against the education minister’s appointment as president of a university.

The two were released from the Putrajaya police district headquarters at 8am in one surety. 

They were arrested at the ministry’s building in Putrajaya around 1.30am for refusing to leave the premises where they staged a sit-in over Dr Maszlee Malik’s appointment as the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) president.

They were among 10 student activists who began the sit-in at about 8am yesterday, which grew to around 20 people last night.

Asheeq told The Malaysian Insight after his release today that only he and Siti Nurizzah were arrested as they were in the compound, while other protesters were outside the fence.

Asheeq is a student at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) while Siti Nurizzah is at IIUM.

He said prior to their arrest, Education Ministry special adviser Wan Saiful Wan Jan spent an hour talking to them, persuading them to leave to avoid being arrested.

“He also said to give Maszlee a chance for three years as IIUM president. He said Maszlee has no intention of rejecting the appointment,” Asheeq said.

Wan Saiful confirmed his discussion with the two protesters.

The arrests have been criticised by other Pakatan Harapan ministers, such as Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, who said they should be released immediately.

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman also slammed the arrests, affirming the right of the students to protest.

“The new government should not be shielded from any criticism,” he said.

During the sit-in yesterday, Siti Nurizzah told the media that the new government should understand that university autonomy goes beyond freedom of speech.

Asheeq said Maszlee should honour his promise to ensure public universities remain free from political influence.

The education minister, who was a lecturer at IIUM prior to joining politics, has received a barrage of criticism following the appointment as the university president last week.

Maszlee yesterday said he accepted the appointment “to save taxpayers’ money”.

But Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government will review the appointment after taking into consideration public feedback. – September 8, 2018.