National laureate Datuk A. Samad Said was detained from his home in Bangsar early this morning for his alleged involvement in the flying of the Sang Saka Malaya flag on the eve of Merdeka celebrations at Dataran Merdeka.
He was picked up by three police officers at 12.40am and taken to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters where he was interrogated for more than an hour.
Pak Samad, as he is popularly known, is being investigated under the Sedition Act for the incident. "Pak Samad was released around 2am after his statement was taken," student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim said to The Malaysian Insider.
Lawyers Latheefa Koya and Eric Paulsen stood as his counsel. Earlier, Adam Adli and another activist, Hishamuddin Rais, were detained for the same incident and both are being investigated under the Sedition Act 1948. They were released early yesterday morning.
Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar asked Samad to turn himself in to facilitate investigations after he was alleged to have waved the Sang Saka Malaya flag near Dataran Merdeka on Friday night.
Khalid claimed that Samad “went into hiding" last night, a claim which the latter has denied. The waving of the The Sang Saka Malaya flag. - September 4, 2013.Sang Saka Malaya flag, which was captured on video, has gone viral on YouTube and so far three non-governmental organisations have lodged reports on the incident.
The video showed a commotion followed by a man was seen shouting that, "that is the Malaysian flag", pointing to the large Jalur Gemilang at Dataran Merdeka.
Ikatan Rakyat Insan Muslim Malaysia (IRIM), Pertubuhan Martabat Jalinan Muhibbah Malaysia (MJMM) and Gagasan Pendidikan Melayu Malaysia (Gagasan) lodged reports at the Sentul police station and urged police to take action against Hishamuddin, Adam Adli and Samad.
The Sang Saka Malaya is a red-and-white flag with 12 yellow stars set in four columns and was reportedly proposed as Malaya’s national flag in the 1940s.
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