PPS arrests wrongful, cops liable to be sued

The arrests of 154 Penang volunteer patrol unit (PPS) members including senior citizens and women were unlawful as the organisation has not been banned and could leave police open to lawsuits for illegal detention, several lawyers said today.

Executive director at Lawyers for Liberty Eric Paulsen pointed out that the authorities must go through the necessary process of gazetting the PPS as an illegal organisation — as they did with Hindraf in 2008 — before action could be taken against the organisation.

Paulsen said until this was done, arresting PPS members for participating in an unregistered society was contentious.

“The arrests are extremely doubtful because being a member of an unregistered organisation is not an offence,” he said.

Paulsen acknowledged that those arrested may be charged under the Societies Act were the PPS gazetted as illegal. “As for now, it looks like politically-motivated arrests and detention,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan similarly questioned the arrests, pointing out that the PPS being unregistered did not automatically render it unlawful.

“Unless an application has been made to Registrar of Societies and it has been rejected, then a society only becomes unlawful by an order of the (home) minister.

“Here, it does not seem that any of these circumstances apply to PPS. So they are not an unlawful society,” he said.

Syahredzan added that the police may also only arrest members of the PPS if they have personally been involved in crimes, rather than simply for being associated with the PPS.

He added that arresting PPS members merely for association, as he said it currently appears, would be beyond the powers of the police and leaves the law enforcement agency vulnerable to being sued.

Former Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan meanwhile called the arrests this morning “unnecessary and unwarranted use of police power”.
“No need to be confrontational with a state government ruled by Pakatan (Rakyat).

“Would only confirm public perception of state instruments serving political interest of BN,” he said in a text message.

He also said the arrests may be challenged in court.

This morning, about 200 PPS members were reportedly arrested after taking part in a Merdeka parade in Georgetown, Penang.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar later confirmed that 154 Penang volunteer patrol unit (PPS) members were arrested for ignoring his orders to cease participating in the “illegal” group’s activities.
He said he had previously cautioned the group’s members of the consequences of continued participation.
Khalid also said the PPS members had allegedly flouted the law and set out to challenge the police and his orders by continuing with activities as normal.

The PPS became the centre of controversy after a 51-year-old man alleged that its members had attacked him.

This had led to an uproar with Barisan Nasional leaders urging for the unit to be disbanded while Malay rights group Perkasa also lodged police reports urging the police to investigate the unit’s activities.

Khalid subsequently declared the group illegal and said the police are investigating it under Section 41 of the Societies Act as it is not registered with the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng responded by pledging legal assistance to any PPS members “wrongly arrested” while serving with the unit.
The PPS was formed by the state government in May 2011 to assist the public in all situations including directing traffic, in times of disaster and to patrol the streets as a preventive measure against crime.

Currently, there are more than 9,000 PPS members in the state and the members have all undergone various courses that include first aid and disaster management.

-malaymailonline