KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Some 226 tear gas canisters and 36 smoke grenades worth RM22,886 were used to disperse the tens of thousands who gathered on July 9 to support Bersih’s call for free and fair elections.
The Home Ministry said, in a parliamentary reply to Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut), that each “Tear Smoke Shell” cost RM79.76 while “Tear Some Grenades” were valued at RM135 each.
The ministry also said on Tuesday that police were found to have breached standard operating procedures when dealing with marchers who had converged at the Tung Shin Hospital.
The government had said earlier this week that more than RM2 million was spent deploying over 11,000 police officers to “handle” the outlawed rally by the electoral reform group.
The protest turned chaotic when the police fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands of demonstrators, resulting in scores injured and the death of ex-soldier Baharuddin Ahmad, 59.
The ministry also clarified today that the total number of arrests on July 9 was 1,509, 97 of whom were female.
“Of that total, 1,435 were Malays, 21 Chinese, 29 Indians and 24 from other races,” it said in its written reply.
Bersih estimates that 50,000 people showed up at the July 9 rally despite government efforts to prevent it from taking place while the police have said there were only 6,000.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has since gone to great lengths to try and win back middle Malaysia after international condemnation of the clampdown on the rally.
In the wake of the rally, Najib had promised to reform the country’s election process, a key demand of Bersih 2.0, followed by sweeping changes to security and press laws, a move he said was to increase civil liberties in the country.
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