No need to fear arrests, Rafizi says ahead of Bersih rally

PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli today urged Bersih 4 supporters not to fear arrests and said he would surrender if police were to detain him in pre-emptive move ahead of the rally which is set to take place in less than 48 hours. Speaking at a forum to shore up support ahead of Bersih 4 at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) tonight, Rafizi urged the police to call him in instead of coming to his house to arrest him. "I will go in gladly, because, it's actually not too bad being in the lock-up," Rafizi told a crowd of more than100 at the forum. "Just don't come knocking at my house door at 2am. That is not nice." He said the people should not fear arrests as the police were "nice" in the lock-ups and they did not treat demonstrators badly. "There is a stark difference between how the police used to treat protesters back during the Reformasi days in 1998 and now. Back then, the police used to think the protesters were real troublemakers," he said. "Now they understand why we need to demonstrate. The more you send us to lock-ups, the more policemen we can convert to be against the government.” Rafizi has been arrested several times ahead of recent demonstrations, but hoped to remain a free man to attend this weekend’s rally. Student activist Adam Adli Abd Halim, who is also in the Bersih secretariat, urged people not to fear arrests, citing his own experience having been arrested numerous times before. "If there is an election in the Jinjang lock-up, I will probably win. "But if at all you are arrested, just say you are a friend of mine," he said in jest. Adam Adli urged the people to make a "small sacrifice" in terms of time and comfort to send out a "loud" message to protest against the government. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said recently there would be no pre-emptive arrests of Bersih leaders ahead of the rally, which has been deemed illegal by the government. The Bersih 4 rally is organised by electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 and has drawn widespread support, judging from record T-shirt sales and RM2 million in donations. – August 27, 2015.