SABAH A party worker sustained injuries and three vehicles were damaged yesterday evening in a commotion in front of theSemporna PAS operations centre, some 1.5km outside Semporna town.
A police report lodged at the Semporna district police headquarters last night by PAS member Abdul Naib Abdullah says "a group of men wielding weapons" attacked the centre about 6pm.
Abdul Naib said in the report that these men were from the local Umno Youth wing and that they were led by local Umno leaders.
"Our worker, Malik Marahaji, 40, sustained injuries on his shoulder and torso and was attacked from the back.
"To my knowledge, the men carried baseball bats, metal rods, saws and hammers," says the report sighted byMalaysiakini.
Abdul Naib added that the group came there again, about 7.20pm when PAS members were performing their maghrib prayers, and started throwing things at the centre.
"The Umno Youth machinery threw rocks, pieces of wood, helmets, etc, resulting in damage to our property, including to three vehicles," he said.
A window of one Honda CRV vehicle was broken, a Perodua Kancil's bumper was dented and a motorcycle was also damaged.
Hardly anything can be seen in a short recording of incident uploaded onto YouTube, but yelling and loud thuds are audible.
Abdul Naib also claimed that a local Umno leader threatened to burn down the PAS operations centre while another threatened to run down a motorcyclist.
Malaysiakini is withholding the names of individuals accused in the police report, pending their response to our questions.
'Argument over flags'
Semporna PAS information chief Mohd Shaman Palah, when contacted, said Umno had accused PAS of assaulting a local Umno leader.
"Before the incident, PAS workers had gone to (an Umno leader's) office to ask him why Umno was covering up PAS flags.
"(The leader) then pushed away one of our workers, but we didn't fight back. We left and returned to our operations centre," Shaman said.
He added that PAS contacted the police when the attack at the operations centre took place, but was advised to head to the police station to lodge a report instead.
"So we had to seek assistance from the Tawau and Kota Kinabalu police, after which a unit was sent from the Semporna police station. The men left when they saw the police," he said.
Shaman added that besides Malik, a member of the PAS media unit was also injured on the hand when he was stopped from recording the incident on video.
Confirming the commotion, Semporna district police chief Mohd Firdaus Francis Abdullah said that the incident was contained and nothing untoward happened.
"There was a commotion because they were fighting over where to hang posters and flags, that is all.
"We have called all parties who are contesting here and reminded them to have a healthy contest," Firdaus said when contacted.
Asked about the weapons allegedly used on the PAS centre, he said: "I cannot say, as I was not there."
Firdaus also confirmed that a police report was lodged, but that it was "just a reminder to ensure that such a thing will not recur".
Umno candidate won't comment now
When contacted, an aide to BN's Semporna candidate and Umno Semporna chief Mohd Shafie Apdal said that he could not comment on the matter yet as he was currently in Sarawak.
"We are returning to Kuala Lumpur later today. We will get information on this first before commenting," Shafie's aide said.
Incidents of political violence are very rare in Sabah, where the election campaign has been fairly muted compared with that in the other states of the peninsula.
However, this is the second incident of violence against PAS on the east coast of Sabah, with the PAS Tanjong Batu candidate Fatmawaty Mohd Yusuf's house splashed with red paint and a window smashed a few days before nomination day.
A police report lodged at the Semporna district police headquarters last night by PAS member Abdul Naib Abdullah says "a group of men wielding weapons" attacked the centre about 6pm.
Abdul Naib said in the report that these men were from the local Umno Youth wing and that they were led by local Umno leaders.
"Our worker, Malik Marahaji, 40, sustained injuries on his shoulder and torso and was attacked from the back.
"To my knowledge, the men carried baseball bats, metal rods, saws and hammers," says the report sighted byMalaysiakini.Abdul Naib added that the group came there again, about 7.20pm when PAS members were performing their maghrib prayers, and started throwing things at the centre.
"The Umno Youth machinery threw rocks, pieces of wood, helmets, etc, resulting in damage to our property, including to three vehicles," he said.
A window of one Honda CRV vehicle was broken, a Perodua Kancil's bumper was dented and a motorcycle was also damaged.
Hardly anything can be seen in a short recording of incident uploaded onto YouTube, but yelling and loud thuds are audible.
Abdul Naib also claimed that a local Umno leader threatened to burn down the PAS operations centre while another threatened to run down a motorcyclist.
Malaysiakini is withholding the names of individuals accused in the police report, pending their response to our questions.
'Argument over flags'
Semporna PAS information chief Mohd Shaman Palah, when contacted, said Umno had accused PAS of assaulting a local Umno leader.
"Before the incident, PAS workers had gone to (an Umno leader's) office to ask him why Umno was covering up PAS flags."(The leader) then pushed away one of our workers, but we didn't fight back. We left and returned to our operations centre," Shaman said.
He added that PAS contacted the police when the attack at the operations centre took place, but was advised to head to the police station to lodge a report instead.
"So we had to seek assistance from the Tawau and Kota Kinabalu police, after which a unit was sent from the Semporna police station. The men left when they saw the police," he said.
Shaman added that besides Malik, a member of the PAS media unit was also injured on the hand when he was stopped from recording the incident on video.
Confirming the commotion, Semporna district police chief Mohd Firdaus Francis Abdullah said that the incident was contained and nothing untoward happened."There was a commotion because they were fighting over where to hang posters and flags, that is all.
"We have called all parties who are contesting here and reminded them to have a healthy contest," Firdaus said when contacted.
Asked about the weapons allegedly used on the PAS centre, he said: "I cannot say, as I was not there."
Firdaus also confirmed that a police report was lodged, but that it was "just a reminder to ensure that such a thing will not recur".
Umno candidate won't comment now
When contacted, an aide to BN's Semporna candidate and Umno Semporna chief Mohd Shafie Apdal said that he could not comment on the matter yet as he was currently in Sarawak.
"We are returning to Kuala Lumpur later today. We will get information on this first before commenting," Shafie's aide said.
Incidents of political violence are very rare in Sabah, where the election campaign has been fairly muted compared with that in the other states of the peninsula.
However, this is the second incident of violence against PAS on the east coast of Sabah, with the PAS Tanjong Batu candidate Fatmawaty Mohd Yusuf's house splashed with red paint and a window smashed a few days before nomination day.
PAS is contesting the Bugaya state seat, located within the Semporna parliamentary constituency, against BN and three independent candidates.
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