Malaysian police wearing riot gear have set up blockades around the Perak assembly
At least 12 people have been arrested in the northern Malaysian city of Ipoh during opposition-led protests over the government's takeover of a state assembly.The arrests on Thursday come amid an increasingly tense showdown between the ruling National Front coalition and the opposition alliance over who rules the state of Perak.
Opposition leaders had called for protests outside the assembly which was due to meet on Thursday for the first time since the previous state government was ousted.
In response police, some wearing riot gear and backed by water cannon, surrounded the assembly building and set up a 500 metre exclusion zone.
Several people wearing black, the colour chosen by the opposition to protest against the takeover, were arrested.
Jenice Lee, an opposition state assemblywoman from the state of Selangor near the capital Kuala Lumpur was among those detained."I am an elected representative, I am not fighting you," she said as she was dragged away.
Lim Kit Siang, a senior member of the national parliament with the opposition Democratic Action Party, was also barred from entering the assembly building.
He said the government's move had turned the area around the assembly into a "war zone" and said the refusal to allow protests was "a national and international disgrace".
Courtesy: Al jazeera
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