More cops were injured proportionately, inquiry told

A disproportionate number of police personnel suffered injuries during the Bersih 3.0 rally, the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) public inquiry on human rights violations during the event was told yesterday.

According to ACP Jamaluddin Abdul Rahman's (right) submission, 24 protesters were hurt during the rally and if there was just 50,000 participants, it would mean 0.0048 percent were injured.

On the other hand, he said 12 out of 3,000 police personnel at the scene were injured, or 0.4 percent of those deployed, suffered injuries.

Jamaluddin, who is holding a watching brief for the police, said this during the public inquiry which is now in its final stages. The inquiry began on July 5.

‘Bersih was arrogant'

His submission also saw him blaming rally organisers - the Bersih steering committee - for the violence that took place that day by, alleging that they had ordered rally participants to ignore police orders.

"The cause of the incidents was the arrogance of the organiser, by asking the protester not to take orders from others except PAS' Unit Amal and its field commanders," he said.

Jamaluddin also claimed that the rally was backed by foreign powers bent on jeopardising the country's security and making the police scape goats.

He said that Bersih had proceeded with the rally despite the Election Commission (EC) having fulfilled the coalition's eight demands, which is disputed by the former.

To back his claims, Jamaluddin alleged that Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan had admitted that the coalition had received foreign funding from sources which had helped fund regime change in other countries.

Jamaluddin also denied that the police had fired an ‘excessive' number of tear gas canisters compared with the July 9, 2012 Bersih 2.0 rally.

Bar Council slammed

Meanwhile, Jamaluddin also took the opportunity to hit back at one of the police force's frequent critics - the Bar Council - accusing the body  of being undemocratic.

He said that the council's election involved only 12 positions while another 24 positions were through appointments.

He said the system was unreasonable, unfair and "dirty" compared with the EC system.

Despite two inquiry panel members - Detta Samen and Mahmod Zuhdi A Majid - requesting retraction of the submissions touching on the Bar Counci, Jamaluddin refused.

He said that there are flaws within the Bar Council's electoral system and yet it had thrown its support behind Bersih - an electoral reforms pressure group.

"I want to point out that it is akin to a crab teaching its children to walk straight. If the crab has proper eyesight, there would be no problem. But (in this case), I'm afraid that it is blind," he said.

Speaking to reporters later, public inquiry head Khaw Lake Tee (right) said the report should be ready by mid-February and the panel hopes to meet inspector-general of police Ismail Omar to hand over Suhakam's suggestions to him.

The hearing saw 49 witnesses testifying, including eight police personnel, four journalists and eight expert witnesses.