Law student claims he was beaten up by 10 cops

A 26-year-old chambering student sustained bruises and swelling on his body after being beaten up by at least 10 police personnel during last week’s Bersih 3.0 rally, leaving him semi-conscious upon arrest.

At about 3.30pm last Saturday Kenny Wong Kit Lee stated that he was searching for his cousin, after they were separated by massive crowds gathered at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

“I was trying to make calls to my cousin to know find out her location when all of a sudden a group of uninformed police personnel attacked me without any reason or warning,” claimed Wong in a police report he had lodged at the Setapak police station yesterday.

“At least 10 police officers began hitting me. They kicked, slapped and punched me on my head several times,” he had stated in his report.

According to Wong, of the 10 cops, seven did not have their name tags or police identification numbers pinned to their uniforms.

Wong sustained injuries to his fingers and elbow on his right hand, hip and a swollen cheek.

“I was almost unconscious and dizzy when I was arrested and then brought to Pulapol (Police Training Centre) after being beaten up,” he said.

After spending almost 12 hours in police custody and later at the temporary detention centre located at Jalan Semarak, Wong said he was released at 4am, the next morning.

He then went by himself to Hospital Kuala Lumpur where he received treatment for the injuries after the assault.

“The doctor did an X-ray and he found bruising and swelling to the right side of my head,” said Wong, and confirmed the other injuries on his face and the rest of his body.

Assault unwarranted, says victim

Stressing that the alleged assault was unwarranted as he did not fight back, Wong appealed to the police to investigate the claim.

Wong was unable to attend the press conference organised by Kampug Tunku assemblyperson Lau Weng San (right in photo).

Lau, who passed on Wong’s police report to reporters today, said that the latter was “abused and assaulted unreasonably” and urged that the matter be investigated thoroughly.

Saturday’s protest, which was planned to be a peaceful sit-in at Dataran Merdeka, turned chaotic after the protesters breached police barricades cordoning off the historic square.

The authorities were criticised for their heavy-handedness as beside assaulting the protesters, journalists were also attacked and their equipment snatched as they attempted to record the incidents.

The police had arrested 512 protesters including the elderly, and detained several journalists. They were subsequently released.