UPSI demo illegal, says Perak police chief

January 01, 2012

TANJUNG MALIM, Jan 1 — The peaceful student demonstration at the Sultan Idris University of Education (UPSI) this morning was illegal as the organisers did not have a permit to gather, the Perak police chief told Bernama Online today.

Up to 17 students were arrested in the 2.30am incident and taken to the Tanjung Malim police station.

The students, aged between 19 and 24, are being investigated under Sections 186, 145 and 147 of the Penal Code and Section 27(5) of the Police Act.

They were released on police bail this evening.

Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan also reiterated to the news portal that no force was used to disperse the student activists this morning.

He said allegations that two students were injured after being assaulted by Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel were untrue and defamatory.

He added only police officers from Tanjung Malim Police Contingent Headquarters were on duty at the time.

Mohd Sukri countered the students’ injuries were caused by a stampede triggered by other students present and were not the result of an assault.

He said the police had given the students 30 minutes to disperse but their request was ignored.

Some students then turned aggressive and damaged a nearby clinic while others lay down on the road, which disrupted traffic, he added.

He stressed the police had acted to ensure public safety.

PKR and DAP have condemned the police for alleged heavy-handed action in dispersing some 60 undergraduates who held a peaceful sit-down demonstration in support of a fellow student activist and academic freedom at UPSI in Tanjung Malim shortly after midnight.

The opposition parties claimed the police, including two Special Branch (SB) officers, showed a heavy presence on campus and took violent action against what they said were 100 students, instead of the 60 estimated by lawyer Fadiah Najwa Fikri, when the undergraduates refused to disperse as ordered.

One student, Muhammad Safwan Anang, was allegedly beaten up, punched and kicked until he lost consciousness.

The president of student reform movement Gerakan Menuntut Kebebasan Akademik (Bebas) is warded at the Slim River Hospital with a broken cheekbone, PKR said in its statement.

The party claimed he was assaulted by eight policemen and SB officers.