Abuse of Police Powers and Due Process in Six Sabah Student Activist Arrests Over Four Months

The ambush arrest of student activist Sudirman Arshad under the Sedition Act and Section 509 of the Penal Code —despite a prior arrangement to present himself for questioning on 1 November—is not only an abuse of power but a breach of due process that undermines the rule of law. He was released at approximately 5.15pm. While police denied that the “arrest” occurred, the material fact is that Sudirman’s liberty was arrested for sedition questioning without basic safeguards being upheld, including access to legal counsel.

The police’s sustained disregard for the rule of law is evident. In just four months, six student activists—including Sudirman—have been arrested in circumstances marked by due-process breaches or disproportionate tactics. These include closed-door attempts by Special Branch to extract unlawful “intelligence statements” after 112 statements were taken, when the activists had voluntarily attended under CPC Section 111 for other investigations; and arrests at homes or workplaces without demonstrated necessity.

These arrests, alongside Sudirman’s, discredit the government’s reformist claims to a facilitative approach to peaceful assemblies. In five of the six cases, speech offences—most notably the Sedition Act—have been deployed to police peaceful assemblies by the back door, criminalising assembly-related expression while disregarding due process. The posture risks chilling the people’s exercise of the right to peaceful assembly—the constitutional harm the Federal Court underscored when it struck down Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA)—and it is incompatible with the government’s stated post-ruling commitment to review the PAA and move toward facilitative policing.

Whilst we note Sudirman’s release, we demand that that the Sedition Act and Section 509 investigation be dropped immediately. The police must also cease using the Sedition Act and relevant Penal Code provisions to police assembly-related expression.

In solidarity,

Azura Nasron

Executive Director at SUARAM