In a statement, Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR) said 16 participants filed a claim of summons yesterday on the grounds of false imprisonment, assault and battery, breach of constitutional rights in Articles 5, 8, 9 and 10, breach of statutory duties and misfeasance in public office.

SSR criticised the arrest of the vigil participants, calling it “truly shameful”.

“Our peaceful and symbolic action of lighting candles, reading poems and leaving roses were met with brutality, culminating in participants being dragged away by police and thrown into cramped and unsafe vehicles without proper ventilation.

“The vigil should have been a solemn occasion honouring Malaysians who had lost their lives to Covid-19 but instead became a night where police arrested participants violently and with undue force,” it said.

A total of 17 men and 14 women participating in the vigil were arrested at Dataran Merdeka on Aug 19 and sent to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.

Many of them were seen physically roughed up and dragged into Black Marias.

The participants also had their MyKad seized and lawyers were barred from seeing the arrested participants.

The participants were released after their statements were taken and they were each slapped with a RM2,000 fine.