‘Crowd well behaved even when attacked with tear gas’

A Bar Council report on the Bersih 2.0 rally states police used unnecessary force against the marchers under the guise of crowd control.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Bersih 2.0 marchers were peaceful, orderly and well behaved, even when attacked with tear gas. These are some of the findings of the Malaysian Bar Council team that monitored the rally.

The 31-page report which was released yesterday did not have many kind words for the police force. It stated that the police used violence indiscriminately in a form of unnecessary crowd control.

The Bar Council now plans to submit the report to the Inspector General of Police Ismail Omar.

The report contained examples from the main Bersih rally sites around Kuala Lumpur, including Complex Dayabumi and Stadium Merdeka.

“Crowd was peaceful and unarmed,” read the report when cataloguing events at Stadium Merdeka. “They sang, speeches were given and at one point there was a doa recitation.”

The report noted that the marchers deferred to the front line leader’s commands, whether to be silent or stop marching.

“The crowd was well-behaved even when assaulted by the tear gas,” said the report referring to the thousands of people who congregated at during the rally on Saturday.

It underlined how the protesters were helpful to one another, and the PAS Unit Amal controlled the crowd to allow traffic to pass through.

The report listed two instances of unruly behaviour by individual marchers, which was immediately quashed by rally marshals – one involving the crowd booing a TV3 reporter, and another regarding a protester who threw a bottle of water at a news reporter.

The Bar Council’s report detailed police action on the day of the rally, including arrests made using brute force and the indiscriminate use of tear gas.

“There was no warning given to the crowd before the police started using water cannon or tear gas,” stated the report, which also noted that even when warning was given, it was too far away to be heard or too late for the crowd to disperse.

Good cops too

It also mentioned how at both Complex Dayabumi and Pudu, tear gas had been fired from both ends giving the crowd no way of dispersing.

The report also named a police officer – ASP Wong, who was “punching a protester” during the arrest.

At Stadium Merdeka, the report claimed, the police “suddenly charged” towards the remaining rally participants without any or ample warning.”

The Bar Council report called the action “unprovoked” and “utterly unnecessary”.

The report even noted down claims that one FRU team patrolling Pudu Road had kicked a man “until his leg broke”.

It also mentioned instances of good policing during the July 9 march for clean and fair elections.

“A significant number of police officers were polite,” it noted. “In particular, the police team stationed at the Jalan Hang Jebat entrance to Stadium Merdeka managed the crowd well”.

The report called for an inquiry into the allegations of police aggression, as well as an independent investigation by Suhakam.