Nazri: Action against Anwar, Azmin if…

The minister tells Parliament the AG has guaranteed action against those responsible for breaching the Dataran Merdeka barricades on April 28.

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim and the party’s deputy president, Azmin Ali, will face the law if there is enough proof that they orchestrated the breach of the Dataran Merdeka barricades during the Bersih 3.0 rally last April 28.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, addressing the Dewan Rakyat this morning, said the Attorney-General’s office had “guaranteed” that action would be taken against those responsible for breaching the barricades.

“Whoever goes against the law, we will take action against them. If we have hard proof, we hand Permatang Pauh MP (Anwar) and Gombak MP (Azmin) to the courts,” he said to cheers and table thumping by Barisan Nasional MPs.

Nazri was responding to a supplementary question by Mohamed Aziz (Umno-Sri Gading), who accused Anwar of being responsible for the violence that erupted during the April 28 rally.

“Permatang Pauh has to be responsible,” Mohamed said. “He wanted for blood to be spilled and for deaths and unrest to happen.”

Mohamed’s remark was a follow up of accusations in public statements by BN leaders who referred to video footage of the Opposition Leader allegedly giving Azmin direction to break the barricades.

After the barricades were breached, police fired tear gas and water cannons, and this was followed by street battles over the next four hours, wounding scores of protesters and policemen.

Mohamed’s remark this morning followed on Anwar’s question to Nazri about what was being done about accusations of police brutality.

Nazri replied that two rank-and-file policemen had been charged with criminal violence against a journalist.

Anwar criticised this, adding that it was not reasonable for low-ranking officers to be charged while their superiors got away.

He the called for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to be revived.

Nazri said no need for the IPCMC to be revived as the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (SIAP) had already been formed.