Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the police are ready to haul up protesters responsible for Bersih 3.0 violence to face rioting charges. He said those "who are wrong remain wrong and will be dragged to court". I am prepared to support the minister's action if he is consistent. He remains in a very dicey situation.
There are hundreds of photography and video evidences which showed that some policemen were the aggressors too. Hishammuddin's political star is going burn out its last remaining shine if he remains selective in his action against the aggressors.
IGP Ismail Omar apologised today to Malay Mail cameraman, Muhammad Arif Kartono, who claimed he was roughed up by police while covering the assembly at Dataran Merdeka, last Saturday. His apology alone is not enough. He has admitted, and rebuffed Hishammuddin, that the police did not act accordingly by confiscating and destroying cameras belonged to some newsmen.
Apparently, some photography and video evidences also pointed at more serious breaches of SOP which included a traffic policeman pointing his gun at unarmed civilians, policemen beating up and using adverse violence against protesters (not as self-defense) and policemen charging into restaurants to chase out protesters who were having their meal. These provocations are unnecessary and not in accordance to the police SOP, not in Malaysia and anywhere in the world!
If this is a mature democracy, the home minister would have resigned for being incompetent and incapable for allowing a peaceful demonstration to become violent. Human rights activists would have pushed for the resignation of the home minister for being inconsistent with his action and being unscrupulous with public safety and security.
Two weeks before the demonstration, Hishammuddin had announced that it was not a threat to national security. But days before the event, he had backed down to the stubborn and recalcitrant behaviour of the appointed city mayor who insisted that it was an illegal assembly and subsequently ordered a clamp down of the city centre. Any democratic government would have sacked the mayor. Any democracy which respected the third vote would have dumped the mayor in an election.
Ironically, Hishammuddin is calling for further action of the aggressors without making any commitment to take a stern action against some wild seeds in his security squad. If any civilians are being hauled up to face justice but the equally wrong rogue policemen are allowed to scoot free, it will spell an end to Hishammuddin's career.
Hishammuddin can act gung-ho and tough, while it lasts! Malaysian voters will demand for fairness, consistency and accountability at the upcoming general elections. They would know what to do to Hishammuddin and his reelection attempt.
-http://khookaypeng.blogspot.com
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