KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — The brother of Baharuddin Ahmad, who died yesterday after collapsing during the Bersih rally, has blamed the death on a “deliberate act of cruelty” by the police.
Kassim Ahmad, 72, told The Malaysian Insider his brother had died because he alledged that the police had withheld medical aid from Baharudin after he collapsed while running away from tear gas and water cannon bombardment.
“[They] asked the police to help send him to hospital but they refused, so we waited for one-and-a-half hours before the van came,” he said.
“A lot of people tried to revive him ... Had he been given oxygen, he would be alive today.”
Kassim also expressed shock at the violence employed by police during yesterday’s mammoth rally, which he likened to war, but stressed that people should not be intimidated by force.
Baharuddin, 56, who died at Kuala Lumpur Hospital yesterday evening, was laid to rest at 12.55pm today at Lembah Keramat Muslim Burial Ground here just three kilometres from his home.
His hearse was escorted by the same yellow T-shirts he had marched alongside just a day before.
Baharuddin leaves behind his wife, Setiawangsa PKR division chief Rosni Malan, a daughter, 24, and two sons aged 22 and 19.
Kassim added that he was thankful for the presence of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders at Baharuddin’s wake and burial, including PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.
Also present were Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah.
“Have you ever seen the other party come to bury a normal person?” he asked.
“This is the most poignant burial I’ve ever experienced ... because it’s from the heart. All through sweat, all having walked together for miles.”
It is understood that PR is looking into possible legal action against the police for Baharuddin’s death.
Meanwhile the police are not to blame for the death of Bersih supporter Baharuddin Ahmad, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today.
The prime minister said that Baharuddin’s death was caused by health issues, as he moved to defend the police’s handling of yesterday’s rally.
“(His death) was not because of the rally, it was health (reasons). There was no actual physical contact with demonstrators whatsoever,” Najib told reporters here.
Live reports and eyewitness account, however, have said that police had engaged in physical contact with Bersih supporters in efforts to quell the rally.
“I am proud of what the police did yesterday … (They acted) with professionalism.
“They took such good care of those who were arrested that they got free food,” added Najib.
The Malaysian Insider understands that Baharuddin, who was marching with the thousands who turned up yesterday in support of Bersih 2.0, died when he fell during a scuffle with police at KLCC yesterday afternoon.
Police have confirmed that 1,401 of the estimated 6,000 protestors were detained during the gathering, which lasted for over four hours.
Scuffles reportedly broke out between protestors and the armed riot police when the march, which was originally intended to be peaceful, descended into chaos.
Tear gas canisters and water cannons were also fired at various points across the city as the police attempted to force protestors to disperse.
This is Bersih 2.0’s second such rally since 2007 calling for free and fair elections. Its leaders attempted to march to Istana Negara as well to hand a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong but were held back by the police about 200m from their intended destination.
At a press conference after the crowd slowly began to disperse, Bersih 2.0 declared that the rally had been a success, claiming it had drawn a crowd of over 50,000 supporters despite efforts by the police over the past few weeks to restrict the turnout.
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