MIRI: The 11 protestors from Ulu Kelawit Tatau who were arrested during a blockade have been released Friday (Nov 2), five days after being held in the police lock-up.

The group posted bail of RM500 each, with the help of civil rights activists and lawyer Simon Sia.

They were freed from the Mukah police station lock-up after they claimed trial at the Mukah magistrate's court to charges of forcefully confining a plantation worker during the blockade that happened on Sunday.

The police had arrested the group comprising 10 men and one woman at the blockade site after a police report was lodged by the private company workers.

Ulu Kelawit Tatau is located about 500km south of Miri.

The villagers are protesting against a quarry and oil-palm project in the forests in the northern Sarawak region.

At least six villages in Ulu Kelawit Tatau are affected by the projects being carried out by the private land developer.

The villagers said the rivers in their area have been polluted due to these projects and that their land were being trespassed.

On Sunday, dozens of the natives staged a peaceful street demonstration outside the Mukah police station to protest what they said were unjust arrests of their community elders by the police.

The Iban community from Ulu Kelawit Tatau claimed that the police had unjustly detained 11 of their people during a blockade against the private land developer.

The villagers had been staging road blockades at Ulu Kelawit Tatau to stop workers from the private firm from entering land they said are their native customary rights (NCR) forests.

The Mukah magistrate's court has fixed Nov 6 for mention.