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FUCK. Could Have Been Me.



Written by lainie at 01:03 AM on January 2, 2006 in Rants.

I'm NOT even going to BOTHER to detail EXACTLY how STUPID this is. I don't understand our police force, or whoever is in charge, what the HELL is their AGENDA?

An email with irritating news I got recently:


=====

Greetings and Salutations!

Happy New Year.

Now for something not very festive.

********
Overview
********
Paul's Place was raided on New Years Eve, 31/12/05 at approximately 10:30.
Police were acting on an report that the gig was allegedly a Black Metal
gathering. Bands that performed were, Crystal Lake (Japan), Force Vomit
(Singapore), Cassandra, Second Combat, Devilica, Uphold, The Falling Grudge,
M.U.Z.E, Net Restraint and Crestfallen. It is interesting to note that none
of these bands is a Black Metal band. (Note: I only caught M.U.Z.E's set
which was damn brilliant).

Paul, Ben (Bitches) and I were in Sri Hartamas when the raid occured, we
left about 15 minutes before the raid. Contrary to popular belief neither
Paul nor I were aware that this raid would happen. Paul was filling in on
drums for Triple6Poser.

When we were informed of the raid, we immediately sought legal advisory and
contacted Sonia Randhawa from the Center of Independant Journalism who in
turned brought in HAKAM and SUARAM.

Paul wanted to go to the police station but after getting legal advice and
discussion amongst ourselves, I felt it would be logical for Paul to wait
until the courts open on Tuesday. If he were to go then/now, there is a
possibility that he may be remanded (and rendered useless). I felt it would
be more useful for him to use Sunday and Monday working on a legal strategy
to get the detainees released and organize funds for bail if it becomes
necessary. We told him to go home and headed to the police station.

Ben and I arrived at the police station at about 2am. CK (Ben's Bitches
bassist) arrived shortly after. Friends and loved ones waited outside the
station compound.

Detainees were released at approimately 5pm. David (Paul's Place staff) and
an indeterminate number of others were remanded and shall be brought to
court on Tuesday/Wednesday to face charges.

Some detainees, Crystal Lake included, immediately went back to the police
station and lodged a report on what they believed to be an unlawful
detainment.

Ben and I left the scene at 6:00 am in the morning. CK was still there when
we left.

*******
Details
*******

It is estimated that 380 persons were detained without cause. Those detained
included Paul's Place staff David, members of Japanese band Crystal Lake,
Singaporean outfit Forced Vomit and a lawyer from law firm Edwin Lim & Suren
Advocates and Solicitors. All merchandise and movable equipment at the venue
were confiscated.

It should be noted that not all those detained were physically in Paul's
Place. Some were in the stalls outside eating, hanging out at the kaki lima,
others were there to drop off friends.

Detainees were trucked to the Brickfields Police Station and tested for
drugs. They were made to sit in the compound, men were went single file to
give their urine samples, I assume the women were given a little more
privacy. Friends and loved ones kept vigil outside the police station. No
one was allowed to enter and meet with the detainees until they were
processed.

Those who tested negative for drugs were released at approximately 5:00 am,
I was there until 6:00 am and people were still being released. Some of the
merchandise and equipment was returned to the owners. It is uncertain now
many persons (if any) tested positive and held for a second urine test
and/or remanded.

It is *uncertain* what the detainees were/are being charged for. Detainees
could not get a straight answer from the police. Anedectotal information
includes:

a) Black Metal/Devil Worshipping ceremony (to quote a TV reporter "Menyambut
Tahun Baru dengan Syaitan" - something I wish I had tradmarked)

b) Illegal gathering (for those caught outside).

c) Operating/being in an unlicensed venue for David, organizers Paul's
Place.

d) Undecent public display (I'm assuming wearing black t-shirts)

From what I understand Paul's Place is a licensed cafe. He is allowed to
sell soft drinks and canned/bottled beer and host private events (i.e.,
gigs). The authorities have never seemed to have a problem with this until
now.

HAKAM/SUARAM/CIJ/Media
**********************

Malaysian human rights organizations and watchdog groups HAKAM and SUARAM
and the Center of Independant Journalism were present outside the police
station demanding to speak with the OCPD and questioning the media.

N. Surendran from law firm Edwin Lim & Suren, lodged 3 police reports
against Brickfields OCPD and 2 other high ranking officers within hours of
the raid for the unlawful detainment of their staff lawyer who happened to
be at the gig.

Media, newspapers, TV were present at the police station interviewing
detainees and shooting pictures and footage. Some detainees were "asked
nicely" to provide interviews with the TV journalists. Who were asked
promptly complied.

Some detainees, approximately 15, who were released immediately returned to
the station to lodge a police report against the Brickfields Police
Station's unlawful detainment. Irene (frequent gig organizer and band
nomad), Jay (Freelove) and Hana (Lucy in the Loo) were amongst those who
took a stand and lodged the report.

In addition to that, Crystal Lake members too lodged police reports They had
been advised to bring this matter up to the Japanese Embassy. I'm not sure
if Forced Vomit submitted a report.

A young unidentified off duty cop came up to me and told me, "If I didn't
have to work tonight, I would have probably been at Paul's catching the
hardcore gig and with the detainees right now".

David and some other detainees have been remanded and will be brought to
court to be charged on Tuesday or Wednesday since Sunday and Monday were
public holidays. It will be impossible to contact them, bail them out or
take any legal action until they have been charged.

We are working on a legal strategy to get David and the rest of the
detainees out as soon as they get charged on Tuesday.



Post Mortem and Call for Action
*******************************
Kudos to you all who lodged police reports!

ALL THOSE WHO WERE DETAINED AND RELEASED ARE BEING URGED TO RETURN TO THE
POLICE STATION AND LODGE A POLICE REPORT AND FILE A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT
AGAINST THE BRICKFIELDS POLICE STATION.

What the police did was unlawful and amounts to harassment. One can't be
detained for listening to music (no matter how bad) or wearing black
t-shirts and having dinner at a gerai.

Failure to take action NOW will allow for the possibility for this to happen
again. I realize it is difficult for some to contemplate lodging a report or
complaint due to several factors; parents, concern that you may be further
persecuted (which won't happen) etc.

If enough people get together, it will be possible to organize a class
action lawsuit. Edwin Lim & Suresh Advocates and Solicitors contact details
below.

I have asked Suren to provide information on how to file a police report and
participate in a class action lawsuit for this matter. I shall post that up
as soon as I get it.

What can you do:
****************

It is important to ensure that incidents like this do not happen again. The
community needs to send a message to the law enforcement agencies and show
that they are not little school kids that can be easily intimidated and
pushed around. They need to show that they are aware of the law and what
their rights as citizens are.

Please do the following:
------------------------

a) If you haven't already: GO BACK AND LODGE A REPORT IF YOU WERE DETAINED.
For those who weren't: get your friends who were involved to return to the
station and lodge a report. Some don't feel comfortable doing so as they
were made to feel they were guilty when the opposite is true. Support them.

b) Go to your MP, DAP complaints bureau and lodge a complaint.

c) File a class action lawsuit. Suren can assist with this. But he needs
LOTS OF YOU TO PARTICIPATE.


CONTACT DETAILS
****************
Edwin Lim & Suren Advocates
****************************
Contact: Suren
Email: edwinlim_suren@yahoo.com
Phone: +60 (3) 2161-7003

Paul Millot
***********
Email: solarcon@tm.net.my
Phone: +60 (16) 276-8962

Rafil Elyas
******************
Email: rafil@disarseter.com
Phone: +60 (12) 389-2260

=====

More Info from Ricecooker.

RAIDED!! Saturday, 31st December 2005: This Year’s Final Threat @ Paul’s Place Balai Polis Brickfields
Apparently, the Police has blocked off Paul’s Place’s entrance, so everyone inside the venue can’t leave. A shorthwhile later we heard that all of them were taken on a Black Maria and brought to the station. How many? Who are they? I don’t know.

The New Year Raid: Full Report by Rafil 0f 360DHR & Disarseter Records
Same entry as this, but you can read comments.

The New Year Raid: Press Conference, all MUST come!
The press conference will address the following issues.
a) Definition and characterization of the Black Metal sub culture; music, lifestyle and philosophies.
b) Superficiality of sub-culture embracement in Malaysia. Here, youths follow the fashion but not the philosophies and beliefs.
c) How Black Metal clamp down operations have spilled over to other sub-cultures and musical genres, punk, hardcore, rock.


The New Year Raid: 4 held to be charged on Tuesday
They found no Black Metal, and no drugs, even after testing more than a hundred people and keeping them in police lock-up until about 6 am. Some of the people taken away had nothing to do with the live music party taking place at Paul’s - they just happened to be chilling out at various restaurants dotted around the area.

I reckon there'll be more stuff on the net soon, but I'm awfully tired tonight so I just went to Ricecooker, pretty much figuring there'd be information there.

Please file a class action suit if you were one of those arrested.

13 comments

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Linked Entries

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  • CIJ World Press Freedom Day gig - day 2. by lainie June 5, 2006
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seth.frostheart (guest)

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 03:09 PM
wth?! I was gonna go but cancelled last minute to go drinking...

goddamn cops and dumbass whistleblowers...

/middle finger salute
Reply to this comment

Erna (guest)

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 01:32 PM
I got the email too. It's disgusting. Blogged about it as well...geez. I don't go to gigs anymore but I have friends and family who play in and watch them. All this 'moral policing' has to stop.
Reply to this comment

ck (guest)

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 12:13 PM
Paradoxx .. Kudos to Malaysian Police?
try to be one of the detainee ... none of them are Black Metal affliated.

The police are fucking idiots!
it's done for media publicity.
We must not let this happen again.
Reply to this comment

lainie

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 12:27 PM
he was being sarcastic lah.

and yes, they had to pick the black shirt long haired dude to interview lah. bodoh.
Reply to this comment

cyber-red (guest)

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 09:11 AM
whatthehellmannn

they prolly got released with pockets emptied.. shesh man.. =/
Reply to this comment

lainie

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 12:26 PM
that i wouldn't know..but i know they got their new year's fucked for nothing.
Reply to this comment

Kait

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 02:48 AM
Holy crap, that really sucks. It makes me really glad to live in Canada, where the only persecution I have from listening to certain types of music is social!
Reply to this comment

lainie

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 12:26 PM
welcome to my country *eyeroll*

there's been talk for ages that if you're a manager with a rival club, with the right amount of money on your side, and too little on the other...you can expect raids.
Reply to this comment

Justine (guest)

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 02:39 AM
I was at Hartamas when Markiza announced it. Sounded so unbelievable. 380 people? damn that could have been us..

idiots.
Reply to this comment

lainie

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 12:23 PM
- could have been one of us -

exactly.

I mean, they wanted druggies why didn't they try a rave or something? No one's ever tried to sell me dodgy looking powder stuff in Paul's Place.

Of course, if they wanted Black Metal gathering maybe they should have waited till there was actually a BLACK METAL CONCERT before raiding. What was this, some in-conjunction-with-New-Year let's haul up some Black Metal kids raid?

And cmon, have they seen/ TALKED to these 'black metal' kids? they aren't fucking death metal, at most goth or hard and if we stretch it veeeeeeeery far, maybe even a few doom metalhead kids there.
I mean, I even know some Scandinavian metalheads, but Death / Black? Naw man. Maybe the clothes.
Reply to this comment

lainie

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 12:25 PM
[ by scandinavian metal, i mean they went for the sound, maybe wore some eyeliner, not the whole gloomy death thing ]
Reply to this comment

ParadoXx (guest)

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 02:13 AM
total bullocks man..! kudos m'sian police y'all are real geniuses..!
Reply to this comment

lainie

Comment posted on January 2nd, 2006 at 12:18 PM
that's why lah. brilliant.
Reply to this comment
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