BY: NAZLI IBRAHIM
KUALA LUMPUR, NOV 29: Heavy rain did not deter almost 1,000 participants who gathered at Merdeka Square last night to greet the arrival of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) Chairman Maria Chin Abdullah who was freed last night.
The celebration began with speeches by several BERSIH 2.0 activists including former Chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.
The atmosphere at the gathering, which was filled with moving speeches, became electrified when Maria arrived at 9 pm and was greeted with cries of “hidup Maria”, “Maria Bebas” and “Mansuh SOSMA”.
Maria, who seemed energised, also delivered her first public speech after being freed from the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA).
Also present were Batu Member of Parliament (MP) Tian Chua, Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang, National Laureate Datuk A Samad Said and cartoonist Zunar.
Maria had been previously detained during a raid on the BERSIH 2.0 office at Petaling Jaya before being brought to the Petaling Jaya police headquarters.
She was detained under SOSMA for 11 days based on a discovery of a document.
She had also been previously investigated under Section 124c of the Penal Code for activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy.
Maria Chin’s release celebrated by all
