Speaking at a forum at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Surendran said the fear of political persecution was a bigger problem than political persecution itself.
“Political persecution must be fought because when it is fought, then those who seek to persecute us will not last long,” he said.
The forum, titled “Political Persecution Continues”, was held as a show of solidarity with Tian, who has been jailed for refusing to obey a police order to leave a restricted area following the Bersih 3 rally in 2012.
Surendran, who is his lawyer, said Tian was not at all concerned when he was being arrested.
“As they were getting ready to handcuff my client, he spent most of that time trying to teach me Sanskrit,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
“I have forgotten everything he taught me because my mind was elsewhere at the time. It’s never good for a lawyer’s reputation when your client is arrested.”
Surendran said Tian had never shown concern over any of the court cases brought against him in his career as a political activist.
“That’s an important lesson for us,” he said. “He’s made up his mind about what he’s struggling for, and he’s made up his mind that if he has to face consequences for those struggles, then he will face them.
“That’s why we need the Tian Chuas of this world.”
In an unexpected move last month, Tian withdrew his final appeal against his conviction and one-month jail sentence.
He said in his statement to the court that he was arrested along with 500 other people during the Bersih rally on April 28, 2012, and sent to the Police Training Centre (Pulapol), which was a restricted area.
“I was not charged with taking part in an illegal assembly but in connection with my presence in Pulapol,” he said, adding that he had been detained in the police training academy that day.