Authorities arrested more than a dozen people before, during and after the demonstration including Maria Chin Abdullah, the leader of the "Bersih" civil society alliance that staged the rally. "We are troubled by the ongoing detention and solitary confinement of Maria Chin Abdullah under national security laws," Alicia Edwards, a US State Department spokeswoman said in a statement provided to AFP by the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur Thursday. Tens of thousands of people flooded the capital with the yellow colours of the reformist movement Saturday demanding Najib's resignation. "Her health is good at the moment but we're worried about the prolonged sleep deprivation because of the lights," Yap said. In a radio address last week, Najib dismissed Bersih as a "deceitful" tool of the opposition seeking "to unseat a democratically-elected government".

Source: The Nation Bangkok November 24, 2016 11:57 UTC