KJ: Close roads, prevent Bersih from marching

The police have been urged to close all roads designated as marching routes for the Bersih 5 rally to prevent the marches from happening.

According to Sinar Harian, Youth and Sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the staging areas prior to the march had already been identified and thus the police can prevent the march to Dataran Merdeka from happening.

"We do not want incidents like what had happened during Bersih 3 to repeat itself. There were a lot of extreme acts at the time, including the flipping of a police car and shops being broken into.

"So we urge the police to not only disallow Dataran Merdeka from being used for the Bersih 5 rally but if possible also take all necessary actions to ensure that they will not start marching from the identified gathering points," said Khairy who is also the Umno Youth leader.

Khairy spoke to reporters after attending an Umno Youth retreat at Tasik Kenyir, Hulu Terengganu.

'No Bersih means no red-shirts'

Bersih 3 was marred by clashes between the police and protestors. Several reporters were assaulted by the police .

According to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) report on the incident, there was use of "disproportionate force" and "incidents of misconduct" by police personnel against protestors.

Meanwhile, Khairy said echoed the position of Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamad that the red-shirts movement would not exist if Bersih 5 was called off.

"They (red-shirts) just want to show that they are against Bersih. If Bersih did not do anything then for sure the reds will not retaliate and so the onus is on Bersih.

"The best way would be to not allow Bersih 5 to take place," he said.

Khairy also warned that Umno Youth members participating in Bersih 5 would face disciplinary actions by the party.

The Umno-linked red-shirts movement led by Sungai Besar Umno division head Jamal Md Yunos had on several occasions clashed with Bersih supporters in recent weeks.- Mkini