Fifteen students from Higher Learning Institutions believed to be members of Gerakan Menuntut Kebebasan Akademik (Bebas) were detained at the KL Sentral for staging a protest against the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (AUKU).
Brickfields police chief ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said the detained students, aged between 20 and 22, from five higher learning institutions were among 30 students who staged the protest.
“The institutions are Universiti Malaya, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Selangor and Selangor International Islamic University College,” he told reporters yesterday.
He said they were detained at about 5pm after ignoring a police directive to disperse.
“Police gave them two minutes to disassemble, however after two minutes they still continued to rally and march,” he said.
Wan Abdul Bari said they were brought to the Travers police station and their statements recorded under Section 27 of the Police Act 1967.
A check by Bernama found that until late in the evening, those detained had not been released.
– Bernama