Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching has expressed regret, venting her anger at the police force, for the "gross abuse" of public funds spent on the July 9 Bersih rally, where police personnel on the orders of the Najib administration had launched a brutal crackdown on citizens.
According to Teo, it does not make sense for the government to spend the people's money to crackdown on the people. Malaysians from all strata of society had gathered together for the purpose of demanding clean and fair elections. Yet they were subjected to brutal treatment paid for wth their own money, said Teo, who is also the DAP assistant national publicity secretary.
Latest information from the government showed at least 11,000 police personnel had been deployed. The police and FRU had not only fired a total of 262 teargas canisters, but also arrested 1,509 protesters, committing gross injustice in the process. The exercise cost taxpayers at least RM2 million.
“Until today, there have been no reports of damage to public facilities or private property by the demonstrators, therefore there was absolutely no need for the police to use teargas and water cannons against ordinary citizens, or treat them as if they were terrorists. The police even fired into the hospital compound!,” Teo said in a statement on Friday.
It is not size that counts
Taking the police to task, Teo said although they have repeatedly announced a decline in crime rates, the incidence of crime and public safety were still major areas of concern for many people.
“For the past 9 years from 2001 till 2010, the number of police personnel increased from 82,135 to 106,079 -- a growth rate of 29% which is much higher than our population growth of 22%.”
Teo also said that with the increase in police personnel to 106,079 in 2010, the police to population ratio is 1:270 which is quite close to the Interpol-recommended ratio of 1:250 and higher than certain developed nations such as Singapore (1:396), Australia (1:342) and United Kingdom (1:380).
"However, the people of Malaysia somehow still do not feel safer in their own country than the people of Singapore, Australia and United Kingdom,” she added.
Teo said this showed the fault did not lie with the number of personnel in the force but rather, the force had to recognise that the right to peaceful assembly was a fundamental human right.
"Had the police agreed to cooperate with the organisers of the Bersih 2.0 rally, and dispatched sufficient officers to maintain order, millions of ringgit would not have been wasted by the police in teargassing the demonstrators," she said.
Malaysia Chronicle
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