Police brutality: Video recording will prove who is right

On claims of police brutality during the July 9 rally, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said video recordings of the entire demonstration will prove there was no such thing

KUALA LUMPUR: The police have made video recordings of the entire street demonstration on Saturday which can be used as evidence to refute wild allegations and in the cases to be brought against offenders.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said several quarters had hurled all kinds of allegations through various channels, including the local and foreign media, and the recordings would be useful in determining the truth.

“Our (police) operations room has recordings of everything that happened last Saturday. As such, all the accusations and claims will be investigated with concrete proof,” he told a news conference at Bukit Aman, here.

Hishammuddin said the recordings were being scrutinised together by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and CyberSecurity Malaysia.

“The police have nothing to hide. Whatever we have in our possession (as proof) will be used to answer the allegations. The evidence will also be handed over to the Attorney-General for action,” he said.

Bersih 2.0 staged the demonstration to demand a change in the country’s electoral system after the authorities denied permits for the staging of a rally in any stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

Hishammuddin said action would be taken against those who made baseless accusations through the Internet or local and foreign media.

He also said that the police would not be spared either if they were found to have broken the law. There had been allegations of abuse of power by the police.

Hishammuddin said the recordings would be made public for all to see what happened, even to determine the number of people who took part in the demonstration.

“There were claims of 50,000 … 30,000 … when I feel there were not even 10,000 people,” he said.

Hishammuddin said the recordings would also show that those arrested during the demonstration were treated well at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) in Jalan Semarak.

“Allegations of ill treatment will be proven false in the recordings,” he said.

The minister said the police did not show any favouritism in acting against individuals who violated the law.

- Bernama