Police stamped on injured woman: Bersih 3.0 witness

Police "stamped" on a young woman, who was "on the floor and screaming in pain" in the CIMB Bank outlet in the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) headquarters, in an incident during the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28.
She had already sustained injuries to her arm, said a witness at the Human Rights Commission's (Suhakam) public inquiry today.

S Kumar, 45, who was attending to the woman, testified that he was holding her in an upright seated position as she was unable to breathe when she was placed on the floor.

According to him, the unidentified woman had fallen awkwardly outside the building and was carried into the bank's automated teller machine (ATM) room.

He said a group of people were already taking shelter inside the room evading tear gas launched to disperse the crowd in the surroundings of Dataran Merdeka on April 28.
Kumar, a businessperson, was at Jalan Raja Laut bordering Dataran about 2.40pm when riot police fired tear gas at the crowd. He was distributing salt to those affected when he heard the woman's screams.

"I handed over the salt I had and went to check on her. A group of people had surrounded her, she was still screaming. She pointed at her arm and indicated that it was hurting, that was when we thought that her arm was broken.

"I was holding her upright and we were wrapping her arm with a towel when five or six police officers came and ordered us to leave the place.

"But we told them about the girl and that she need medical attention. They left, saying they will get an ambulance. Minutes later, another group of police officers walked in and told us to get out but when they saw her, they too left to get ambulance.
Ambulance did not arrive

The ambulance had not arrived at that point but they received a third visit, from about 10 police personnel accompanied by DBKL enforcement officers, who ordered them out of the ATM outlet they were in.

"One of them stamped on the woman and I shouted at them to stop as she was in enough pain. They dragged me away and stamped on my back as well, and slammed me against the glass wall," Kumar recounted.

He recalled asking the reason for his arrest when he was "dragged out" of the room and someone tripped him as he was walking out, causing him fall.

"They surrounded me and started stamping on me and kicking. I covered my face. They were referring to me in derogatory terms. I couldn't see what happened to the woman. They took me to a holding area about 30 metres away," he said.

According to Kumar, he saw the woman being taken into an ambulance by paramedics, on a stretcher.

Those arrested were then told to walk in a line to the Royal Selangor Club, where more people were being held, before transported to the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) on Jalan Semarak.

Saw people being bashed up

"As we were walking, I saw people being bashed up, just as I thought my ordeal ended. So I decided not make eye-contact.

"After a while, I decided to look up and caught the gaze of a police officer. He started to beat me up again," Kumar said, adding that they then sat down by the side of the road, waiting to be taken to Pulapol.

According to him, a few women were being held as well as and one woman in her 20s walked up to the police demanding to know why she was being detained.

"She told the cop that if they don't tell her why, she will walk away and she did when there was no response. Two police officers went after her, grabbed her by the head and pulled her back to the spot," he said.

Later, while queuing to get into the bus, Kumar spoke to an officer in a Light Strike Force uniform, who complained that his colleagues "behaved like hooligans".

However, at Pulapol, Kumar was shocked to get better treatment. He was released at 12.30am,  after a statement was recorded from him.

'What's wrong with the yellow T-shirt?'

He then went to the Pantai Medical Centre to get treatment for bruises and injuries.

Jalamuddin Abdul Rahman who was holding the watching brief for the police force, asked Kumar if he was aware that the assembly was prohibited and why he wore Bersih's yellow T-shirt.

"I read the newspapers and (Home Minister) Hishammuddin (Hussien) himself said it was not unlawful. That is why I went. What's wrong with the yellow T-shirt? It is not banned," he replied, adding “I am a law abiding citizen".

He reiterated that he stayed out of the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 last year because unlike this year, the government had declared it "illegal".

The public inquiry is investigating human rights violations during the clashes that occurred after police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse nearly 100,000 demonstrators during the Bersih 3.0 sit-in protest following a breach of the barricade in front of Dataran Merdeka.

The panel is headed by Suhakam vice-chairperson Khaw Lake Tee and assisted by commissioners Detta Samen and Mahmood Zuhdi A Majid.

Roger Chan is holding a watching brief for the Bar Council, while the Bersih steering committee was represented by Daniel Albert and Andrew Khoo. The inquiry resumes at 2pm on July 16.