Anger-management trained members of the Federal Reserve Unit had fired more than 100 volleys of tear gas into crowds of Bersih 3.0 protestors on April 28, according to the force's commanding chief Supt Zahari Mohd Yusoff who appeared at the Malaysian Human Rights Commission's public inquiry yesterday.
“I am not sure how many tear gas [canisters] were fired, but no less than 100,” he said.
Zahari said his 400 subordinates had gathered a day earlier in the underground car park at Dataran Merdeka.
He also explained that his team had been trained with anger management so that they would not be emotional in discharging their duty.
“Starting this year, our team was taught ‘Anger Management'. In the training, FRU personnel would be made to go under the hot weather, and they would be taunted in order to see if they could take the pressure.
"We tried to act without emotion but if there is exception, it is the fault of the individual,” explained Zahari.
When questioned on the standard operating procedure (SOP) for firing tear gas, Zahari said it should be fired upward.
“But in desperation it could be fired downward,” he added.
Zahari also admitted that the police had not used any banner to urge protestors to disperse.
The reason? A Tamil typo.
“Yes, besides the instruction to disperse, there should be banner but that day we did not use it because there was a spelling error in Tamil language. So we did not use it,” he said.
At the inquiry, Zahari concurred that the police should have refrained from acting harshly on protestors.
-Harakahdaily
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