POLICE arrested 25 participants for holding a vigil in commemoration of those who lost their lives to Covid-19 at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur tonight.

A participant told The Malaysian Insight, the group, which started gathering at 7.50pm, began with lighting candles en masse to commemorate the victims.

Later, the participant said, the group’s organisers gave a short speech and ended the vigil by distributing roses.

However, at about 8.40pm, the police started asking for the personal information of each participant.

The participants questioned if they were being arrested but police personnel dragged some of them into police trucks before they were taken to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.

According to a spokesman for Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), seven of its members who attended the programme were detained.

They were identified by PSM as Chong Yee Shan, Bharathi Panner Selvam, Gurpreet Singh, Sarah Irdina, Navin, Muaz Ishak and Irfan Hafizuddin.

Five other activists who had earlier organised the #lawan rally, namely Mohamad Al Shatri Abdullah, Mohammad Asraf Sharafi Mohammad Azhar, Tharmelinggem Pillai and Qyira Yusri were also among those detained by the police tonight.

Dang Wangi police chief Noor Dellhan Yahaya said a statement will be issued later.

The activists also complained on their Telegram page that police have not allowed them to contact their lawyers.

Pictures and videos have since gone viral on Twitter with users slamming police for bias and cited the double standards for politicians who have been gathering for meetings with one another over the country’s political situation in the past few days.

The #Lawan hashtag has gained momentum again after the protest on July 31. The hashtag is currently trending at No.1 in Malaysia and has gathered over 36,400 tweets.

“Politicians have been meeting almost every night to discuss the transition of power and are ignored but those who are trying to fight for a better country are being hauled up and arrested,” said @aaron16denison. 

“Why are lawyers not allowed to enter IPD Dang Wangi? Why weren’t they told their rights when they were detained? Were they arrested? This has not been answered,” tweeted another user @neddokhan.  

Another twitter @Natcromancer called out the police for dragging and abusing the participants during their arrest. 

“Abusing, dragging people up at a memorial for ‘documentation’. The cops are good at a lot of things, like excessive use of force, but it seems like they’re terrible liars!”

“They have shown they have no dignity, self-respect & integrity. As authorities who’re responsible for the safety of this country. You let anyone in power control you like puppets at a circus yet you play God,” tweeted @sam_zamuel191. 

“This has to stop, Malaysia has to stop this madness,” tweeted @mochallaatae. 

Tonight’s vigil was held to commemorate the Covid-19 victims who succumbed to the virus. Malaysia today recorded 22,948 cases, its highest number for a single day, with 178 deaths in the past 24 hours.

The death toll since the start of the pandemic now stands at 13,480. – August 19, 2021.