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KUALA LUMPUR: Three members of parliament from opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim's party were arrested outside the royal palace on Saturday, they told AFP.
The gathering was organised by ethnic Indian rights group Hindraf which is seeking the release of its leaders who enraged the government in November by mounting a mass rally alleging discrimination.
"Police arrested us when we were waiting for a group of children to hand over a memorandum to the King appealing for their fathers to be released," Keadilan MP Zuraidah Kamaruddin told AFP from the police station where she was being held.
The arrests came a day after 2,000 protesters marched through the Malaysian capital in the largest of a series of demonstrations against last week's steep fuel price hike.
Anwar has said that he will topple Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government.
Abdullah's Barisan Nasional coalition was punished by voters in March general elections for failing to rein in the cost of food and fuel, losing a third of parliamentary seats and five states to the opposition.
Zuraidah said police had also arrested three other party members for illegal assembly. If found guilty, all six could face two years in jail.
"The police should ensure law and order and should not arrest us. We are not a threat to security," she said. - AFP/ac
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