Questions surround Baharudin's death despite police denial

Harakahdaily

KUALA LUMPUR, Jul 11: The family of the late Baharudin Ahmad, one of the protesters at Bersih's massive rally on Saturday whose funeral was attended by Pakatan Rakyat top leaders yesterday, has disputed claims by police that he had died of heart problems. Earlier reports said Baharudin, 56, had suffered difficulty in breathing after the police charged tear towards him to disperse crowd of people near KLCC. He then collapsed, but was denied immediate care due to ambulance being prevented from arrival. DISTRAUGHT ... Baharudin's son Nazrul addressing the crowd of visitors at his home Following the release of Baharudin's body from Kuala Lumpur Hospital which conducted a post-mortem, speculation has been rife over the circumstances surrounding his death, even as Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief Amar Singh, the man tasked by the force to answer questions on police highhandedness, took pains to claim that police played no role in his death. A nephew of Baharudin, Azhar Kassim told Harakahdaily: “Four of his chest bones were broken and 3 teeth were also broken,” said Azhar Kassim, during funeral services at his house in Taman Keramat. According to Azhar, his uncle had once served in the army and then as member of the police's reserve force. “He has no asthma, heart problem nor diabetic, he only had high blood pressure. He was healthy,” he added. As press time, the hospital had yet to release the post-mortem findings even though the go-ahead was given for the burial. Efforts by Baharudin’s second child Nazrul also failed to retrieve the report. Nik Aziz leads du'a at Baharudin's home Baharudin’s wife Rosni Melan said her husband had left home after the Zohor prayer for KLCC, while she had gone out earlier to attend the rally with her friends. Large crowd at funeral Earlier during his funeral, there was a continuous stream of visitors, including Bersih chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan and Pakatan Rakyat top leaders. Among them were Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim, DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, vice president Husam Musa, central committee members Nizar Jamaluddin and Kamaruddin Jaafar, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, vice president Nurul Izzah, among others. Later, a long procession accompanied Baharudin's coffin to the cemetery. This was followed by a surprise visit from PAS Murshidul Am Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, who made his way there immediately after touching down from his Umrah trip. Welcomed by the family, Nazrul asked the Kelantan Menteri Besar to pray that his father had died as ashahid (martyr). Nik Aziz said the real cause of Baharudin’s death would be eventually answered, "if not in this life, then in the hereafter". "How we die, whether it is heart attack, or caused by assault, will all be revealed in the hereafter," he said. On Bersih's eight demands on electroral reform, Nik Aziz reiterated their importance, and said he had never once experienced any clean and fair election in his political career.