FRU blames Azmin, Anwar for Bersih 3.0 chaos

The Bersih 3.0 rally was calm until opposition leaders such as Azmin Ali and Anwar Ibrahim riled up the crowd, a Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) officer told the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) public inquiry today. 

Superintendent Zahari Hj Mohd Yusoff, who was in charge of all four FRU units on duty at the event, testified that the duo showed up near Dataran Merdeka at about noon and started making inflammatory speeches. 

“Then, the crowd’s spirit was roused,” he said. 

He said that although he could not hear the speeches clearly, he could see the crowd cheering and chanting “reformasi”, “charge (to Dataran Merdeka)” and hurling verbal abuses at the police.

He stressed that no action was taken by the police until the protestors stormed the barricades at about 3pm, resulting in the police issuing a warning. 

At one point, ACP Jamaluddin Abdul Rahman, who was holding watching brief for the police, asked Zahari whether he agreed that there was a “hidden agenda”, without specifying what he meant. 

“There are certain parties trying to take advantage of the situation (to create chaos at the restricted area),” replied Zahari.

[More to follow]