Pressmen harassed, some arrested

The police allegedly manhandled media personnel while they were attempting to record incidents of alleged brutality.

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have been accused of manhandling and assaulting media personnel during the Bersih 3.0 rally today, with several reports of mainly videographers and photographers being arrested while attempting to record incidents of alleged brutality.

Among those arrested is Malaysiakini photojournalist Koh Jun Lin. “My camera and memory card have been confiscated. They said they wanted them as evidence,” the newsportal had quoted Koh as saying.

Malaysiakini also reported that one photographer was ordered to delete photographs of a melee, but when he refused, a policeman removed his memory card and destroyed it.

FMT learnt that one Nanyang photographer was pushed but managed not to fall over, while a Guang Ming Daily photographer was nabbed while taking photographs of an alleged police assault.

It was also reported that a Channel News Asia video cameraman Kenny Lew was punched.

A Merdeka Review photographer also claimed she was assaulted by four police personnel who attempted to seize her camera and mobile phone.

“They pulled my media accreditation card and kicked it to a side. They then demanded that I leave or face arrest,” reported Malaysiakini.

Al Jazeera journalist Harry Fawcett was also allegedly attacked by police, and the news agency’s camera was also allegedly damaged.

Meanwhile, this reporter was also warned numerous times by police today to stop taking photographs. Many policemen said: “Tak boleh ambik gambar” (cannot take pictures), without explaining why.

In one incident, this reporter was shoved aside while trying to take a video of a policeman who was kicking and hitting a protester.