Water cannon launched at hospital, officer admits

A Federal Reserve Unit officer who deployed a water cannon on Jalan Pudu during the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 said today he had not been briefed that Tung Shin Hospital was located in the vicinity.

Sergeant Idzha Salim, 45, (left) told a public inquiry today that the use of the chemical-laced water was intended to disperse the crowd.

“We were not briefed that there is a hospital in the vicinity," he told the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) panel that is conducting the inquiry.

"I am not from Kuala Lumpur and did not know there is a hospital there... I admit that I launched the water cannon into the crowd and also at the hospital."

Idzha said when his superior informed him about the hospital, he stopped what he was doing.

He also said the police vehicle was 22 years old and that the polycarbonate glass had limited vision.

This was the first time that tear gas canisters and water cannon were used simultaneously on protesters, he said.

Idzha and his commanding officer, Inspector Nor Hisham Razali, were testifying at the Suhakam public inquiry into issues relating to the massive street protest on July 9, which resumed today.

[More to follow]