Cops' measures were for safety, says Saifuddin on TBH march

 

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has defended the police’s action during a recent protest march outside Parliament, saying he believes the measures were taken to ensure public safety.

Saifuddin said while he supported the police, he also sympathised with the Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement’s (TBH-ADA) efforts to seek justice for the late Teoh.

“I sympathise with what happened to Teoh. I am also open to movements that carry the issue of Teoh. 

“The police, in carrying out their duty to maintain public order, have their considerations at that moment,” he said in a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

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TBH-ADA’s march to Parliament on Monday was met with a police blockade. A scuffle broke out between activists and police personnel when tensions flared.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail

Saifuddin also noted that the police have postponed questioning the activists and believed that a compromise would be reached on the matter.

“I was informed by the inspector-general of police that the taking of the activists’ statements was postponed. So I think there is a solution for that purpose,” he said.

Commenting on the group wanting to bill the Home Ministry for injuries sustained during the altercation, Saifuddin said he hadn’t received anything and only read about it in news reports.

Three days ago, the group’s chairperson, Ng Yap Hwa, stated that the compensation sought was for medical treatments and damage to a necklace worn by one of the participants.

On July 16, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the police’s handling of the march outside Parliament could be “improved”.

Fahmi added that he has been following the case and said the cause is “close to his heart” although he did not know Teoh personally.

Teoh died under MACC custody on July 16, 2009.

The aide to then-DAP assemblyperson for Seri Kembangan, Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on the fifth-floor service corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam after being questioned overnight on the 14th floor of the then Selangor MACC headquarters. - Mkini