KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Dang Wangi district police have rejected Bersih’s application to hold its rally in Stadium Merdeka tomorrow.
Dang Wangi police chief ACP Zulkarnain Abdul Rahman told reporters today that he decided not to issue a permit due to safety considerations.
He denied that he had discussed the matter with his superiors from Kuala Lumpur or national police.
“No, I did not discuss with anyone. I made the deliberation myself. It threatens the public peace,” Zulkarnain (picture)said.
However, he said the applicant, a programme officer from Empower, could appeal to the Kuala Lumpur police chief within 24 hours.
Zulkarnain said he signed the rejection letter just after 12pm after the application, made on behalf of Bersih 2.0, was received early this morning.
However Empower chief Maria Chin Abdullah told The Malaysian Insider today that Bersih 2.0 did not send in an application this morning.
“I was told to come and receive a rejection letter but we did not submit anything yet at that point. In any case, we have now submitted the documents and are waiting for a decision,” she said.
When quizzed by reporters, Zulkarnain said “we won’t issue a rejection unless there is an application.”
“We received the application from the person named on the form. We don’t make these things up,” he later told The Malaysian Insider.
Bersih has insisted that it will not move its rally away from Stadium Merdeka tomorrow, stating that it was too late for its supporters to change their plans.
It has also demanded that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who proposed on Monday that Bersih move its street march to a stadium, instruct Stadium Merdeka to allow the coalition of 62 NGOs to hold its rally in the historical venue.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong had stepped in on Sunday to defuse tension by advising the Najib administration and Bersih 2.0 to hold consultations over the issue of free and fair elections.
Despite Bersih meeting Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on Tuesday and accepting Najib’s offer, the prime minister said yesterday that the now outlawed Bersih would still have to make an official application to the police.
The police have continued to make arrests in connection with the rally, most of which revolving around yellow T-shirts with the word Bersih emblazoned on them in a clampdown that has also seen Bersih being declared illegal.
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