KUALA LUMPUR, 23 DECEMBER, 2011: The student activist who was involved in the ‘infamous’ flag-lowering incident has lodged a police report today over an incident involving an attempt by an unidentified man to punch him a few days ago.
Adam Adli, 22 from Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris (UPSI) gave his statement at Dang Wangi police station.
“We cannot divert the issue… There has been attempts to spin the ‘flag lowering’ issue by people who are afraid by the students movements.
“Students are still committed… we SMM (Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia) are still committed to continue to demand for academic freedom such as the abolishment of AUKU (Universities and University Colleges Act),” said Adam when met by reporters outside the police station.
He said the government should repeal AUKU entirely and immediately instead of amending just Article 15 of the Act.
He also criticized Umno Youth’s Datuk Reezal Merican Naina for making a statement in Utusan Malaysia and its portal for reporting that the students had stepped on the flag bearing the image of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“I cannot accept the ‘lies’ by Utusan. We are students, why are you so afraid of us?”
“We are not politicians but we are students… if you oppose us that means we are on the right track,” he said.
On Dec 17, about 500 university students marched to Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) to hand over a memorandum on AUKU to Suhakam and Deputy Minister of Higher Education Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
Shortly after the memorandum was handed, a flag bearing the image of Najib which was hanging outside the building was pulled down by one of the students and replaced a flag with a banner reading ‘Bebaskan (liberate) Academic Freedom’.
Meanwhile, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri of Lawyers for Liberty who represented Adam urged the authorities to take action against the attempted punch by the person whom she believe to be a police officer.
“It was clear that there was a threat by people who have authority who had tried to get involved in this case,” she said.
She said what the students had done (lowering of the prime minister’s flag) was not a crime but merely an act of civil disobedience which according to her is acceptable around the world.
“We have also seen the UN (United Nations) experts criticizing Malaysia for passing the (Peaceful Assembly 2011) bill which restricts street protests,” said Fadiah.
She said she also had been informed that ASP Ong from Jalan Stadium police station is holding the report on the investigation on the Dec 17 student demonstration.
She said the police are still investigating the case.
“We have yet to receive any news whether Adam and the student protesters will be called to assist the investigation,” said Fadiah.
She also urged the police and the government to stop their “intimidation” as the students are aware of their scare tactics and will resist against what she describes as draconian acts.
Meanwhile, Fadiah also told reporters that Adam was served with a notice today by UPSI which had called upon him for a disciplinary proceeding.
Commenting on this, she described UPSI’s action as a blatant abuse of power by the university to please their political masters in order to hamper its students from expressing their opinions and their rights.
By Haider Yutim, 23 December 2011
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