January 02, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 — A video recording of the demonstration early yesterday morning by student activists at the Sultan Idris University of Education (UPSI) does not show police physically attacking students.
However, the recording posted on YouTube yesterday showed chaotic scenes when police broke up the demonstration as well as a student bleeding from the head and another suffering from what appeared to be a seizure.
File photo of police (left) moving in on the protesters at the UPSI campus on January 1, 2012. — Picture courtesy of Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia
Police have however denied beating up several student activists during what was initially a peaceful demonstration at UPSI.
Since the incident, allegations of police abuse have spread online through social media where undergraduates involved in the demonstration posted tweets condemning what they claim were acts of brutality by the authorities.
In the 8.27-minute-long video, uploaded online by Selangor-based news portal Antara Pos, student activists were seen rallying outside the UPSI campus gates, demanding to be let in.
Slogans like “Bebas bebas” and “we are all Adam Adli” were heard, as the chants gradually grew louder and louder.
At the centre of it all, being carried by two students, was Adam, who told the demonstrators that their presence there was an accomplishment for all undergraduates fighting for academic freedom.
Adam, a 21-year UPSI student, had been criticised recently for purportedly lowering a banner bearing the likeness of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak outside Umno’s headquarters here last month.
“We have conquered UPSI today, and shown that UPSI students can demand academic freedom,” he said moments before the police arrived to break up the demonstration.
A police officer was heard giving the students 15 minutes to disperse, but many remained adamant and defied police orders.
Many of them were also seen resisting police arrest after the warning, and attempting to stop police from taking action.
Chaos soon ensued after that, with blurry images on the recording alternating between the broken glass entrance of a clinic nearby the university and scenes of two students injured during the confrontation with the police.
The recording showed one student nursing a bloody forehead with a towel and another student suffering from what looked to be a seizure. Screams from other students could be heard.
There were no images of recordings of police officers physically attacking the students other than making arrests.
“We are not your enemies, do you hear? We are here to help,” said a police officer, seen talking down to handcuffed demonstrators lying down on the road.
PKR and the DAP have condemned the police for their alleged heavy-handed action in dispersing some 60 undergraduates who held the peaceful sit-down demonstration at UPSI in Tanjung Malim shortly after midnight.
The opposition parties claimed the police, including two Special Branch (SB) officers, showed a heavy presence on campus and took violent action against what they said were 100 students instead of the 60 estimated by lawyer Fadiah Najwa Fikri, when the undergraduates refused to disperse as ordered.
Up to 17 students were arrested in the 2.30am incident and taken to the Tanjung Malim police station.
One student, Muhammad Safwan Anang, was allegedly beaten up, punched and kicked until he lost consciousness.
The president of student reform movement Gerakan Menuntut Kebebasan Akademik (Bebas) was warded at the Slim River Hospital with a broken cheekbone, PKR said in its statement.
The party claimed he was assaulted by eight policemen and SB officers.
Tanjung Malim police confirmed to The Malaysian Insider 17 students were arrested in the incident but declined to elaborate further as they are still investigating the case.
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