Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah has been released on police bail following her arrest in Kota Marudu

Maria Chin released after arrest in Sabah


KOTA KINABALU: Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah has been released on police bail following her arrest in Kota Marudu on Saturday afternoon.


Kota Marudu police chief Supt Izaan Abdullah said Maria was released on police bail at about 4.15pm after they recorded her statement and completed their investigations.


He added that Maria was arrested when distributing leaflets at Langkon, about 90km from Kota Kinabalu.


The convoy was headed to Kota Marudu from Kudat when it was stopped at Langkon




Supt Izaan said that she was held under Section 11 of the Printing and Publications Act 1984 at about 1.45pm.


When contacted, Sabah Bersih chief Beverly Joeman said they were puzzled by the actions of the police.


“Section 11 refers to printed materials like leaflets that have the name of the publisher. In our case, Bersih was clearly stated as the publisher of the leaflets that were distributed,” she added.


Beverly said they were also puzzled by the actions of some policemen, as they had asked for the identity cards of individuals who accepted the Bersih leaflets.


She added that this was the first time that the police stopped the Bersih convoy, adding that this was the fifth event held in Sabah by Bersih this year