KUALA LUMPUR – The eight students arrested during the water supply protest at Kota Kinabalu last week have been released from police custody today.
In an Instagram post, protest organiser Suara Mahasiswa Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) expressed gratitude that the teens and young adults were freed.
Responding to Scoop, Wan Shakila Adiela Wan Azmi, manager of Sabah-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Borneo Komrad said the students were released at about 7pm this evening.
“They (the students) needed police bail, so (we) teachers and fellow friends from several NGOs helped to bail them out,” she said.
Apart from Borneo Komrad, she said another social activist group, Pangrok Sulap, was also present.
Last week, Borneo Komrad founder Mukmin Nantang brought the matter to Facebook. He said that the nine individuals, a teacher and eight students, were on an educational tour.
They were travelling in a van when they were detained by police and taken to the Kota Kinabalu police headquarters in Kepayan around 5pm on June 14.
Previously, Shakila highlighted that three of them are minors aged between 15 and 17. The other five are between the ages of 18 and 22.
The teacher, Syahfeeq Rondin, was released on Wednesday.
Since the arrest, netizens, NGOs, and collectives have been urging for their release on social media with the hashtag #PandangKeSabah and #PelajarBukanPenjenayah.
Meanwhile, Kota Kinabalu police chief Kasim Muda said the police seized the van when four female individuals and four male individuals failed to present self-identification documents when inspected.
The students were then remanded under the Immigration Act 1959/1963.
According to Mukmin, all detained students were born in Sabah and are students of Sekolah Alternatif in Semporna, run by Borneo Komrad since 2017 to give stateless children and teenagers access to education.
They presented various identification documents, such as the “surat lepa” (Bajau Laut document), clinic cards, village chief verification letters, and student cards.
On June 14, some 50 individuals, including UMS students, NGOs, and local community members, held a peaceful demonstration at Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor’s office to submit a memorandum demanding immediate solutions to Sabah’s water supply issues. – June 21, 2024