Syed Jaymal Zahiid
Malaysiakini

University Putra Malaysia (UPM) has caved in to pressure by students and human rights groups and agreed to return the laptop it confiscated on Sept 15 from first-year student Yee Yang Yang, 19.

However, there is a catch - he will have to get the laptop and other personal belongings from the Sri Serdang police.

The university security unit had handed these over after Yee lodged a police report on Sept 17.

This morning, a 10-member delegation - representing students and civil society groups - met with corporate communication officer Abdullah Arshad and security unit head Othman Jailani.

The delegation was part of a group of 50 who had gathered outside the university and then marched peacefully to the entrance, where they were stopped by security personnel.

There was slight tension when DAP leader Ronnie Liu, who heads the party’s NGO Bureau, began arguing with two of the guards.

Suara Rakyat Malaysia secretariat member S Arutchelvan defused the tension by negotiating for a 10-member delegation to meet with a representative of the vice-chancellor.

They were then led to an office in the modern language studies faculty to hand over the six-page memorandum to Abdullah and Othman.

‘Procedures flawed’

Following this, Othman conceded that the confiscation procedure was flawed.

“We admit that there were flaws in the confiscation process and we will look into the matter. We welcome the suggestions made by everyone here,” he said.

Both Othman and Abdullah said the investigation involving Yee has ended and that the university wants an amicable solution to the matter which has seen students stand up to the campus authorities. They did not reveal the outcome of the probe.

Liu then suggested that UPM issues a letter informing the police that it had completed its investigation, in order to inform the police that there is no longer a need to hold Yee’s belongings

Othman agreed, also promising that he would do his best to amend the procedural flaws.

He further told the delegation that he was checking on the officers involved in the Sept 15 raid on Yee’s room, to determine if they had acted properly.

Yee, who was present, only said that he “was glad” that the issue had been settled.

He had previously denied UPM’s claims that the laptop had pornographic material in it - among other accusations - and attributed the incident instead to his leanings in student politics.

Rival students groups - dubbed ‘anti-establishment’ and ‘pro-government’- are preparing for campus elections on Oct 2 in all public universities.

Last year, the anti-establishment group - generally regarded as pro-opposition - had boycotted the election in protest of allegedly unfair procedures and intimidation by various campus authorities.