Malaysian police detained more election reform activists Wednesday despite a rare intervention by the king to quell tensions over a street demonstration that has been moved to a stadium.
However, information minister Rais Yatim told state media that the activists could not hold the event in any stadiums within the capital Kuala Lumpur
The July 9 rally, which had been expected to draw large crowds despite police warnings it was illegal and could spark riots, was relocated after activists met King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on Tuesday.
"The police have arrested three more election activists today for distributing Bersih 2.0 T-shirts," Hasbeemasputra Abu Bakar, a coordinator for human rights group Suaram, told AFP.
"This means that more than 150 people have so far been detained by authorities over the rally," he said.
"What is even more appalling is that the campaign of intimidation continues even after the Bersih 2.0 organisers have agreed to move the mass rally planned for 9 July to a stadium."
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that although the street protest had seemingly been moved, police would carry on arresting activists as the group Bersih, which means "clean" in Malay, had been declared a banned organisation.
"They are banned, still illegal. Nobody can be above the law, so just because (the king) met them, doesn't mean they are no longer illegal," he said.
The information and culture minister Rais said that Bersih, because it was banned, could not apply for a permit to hold its event, adding that some other organisation would have to apply instead.
Bersih 2.0 steering committee chair Ambiga Sreenivasan told reporters earlier that the group was still planning on holding the rally at a stadium in downtown Kuala Lumpur
"We have accepted the government's suggestion so we believe it is only proper that the police stand down... we invite the authorities to do so immediately," she said.
With national elections due by 2013 but expected to be held earlier, activists are demanding the Election Commission make changes including the use of indelible ink to prevent voter fraud during elections.
The protest is backed by opposition parties who complain they are the victim of vote-rigging and other irregularities.
Authorities have also arrested in relation to the rally six members of the Socialist Party of Malaysia under the Emergency Ordinance, which allows indefinite detention without trial.
Most of the 150 who were taken in by police have been released after questioning.
Bersih's last big rally was in November 2007, when an estimated 50,000 people took to the streets in scenes rarely seen in Malaysia
- Agence France-Presse
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