Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Both sides of the story - Phil Collins
I'm glad i belong to one of the lawyers' mailing list back home (despite the fact i'm no longer a practising one! No, have not perfected it, just stopped!).
If not for the mailing list, i would have missed out on wat took place at KLCC last Sunday. After all, it wasn't highlighted in the Star. Sure, they reported it - but i had to search for it bfore finding it. And it was a really short report. It's so short that i'd reproduce the whole report here:-
Opposition party men protest power price hike
KUALA LUMPUR: Members of various opposition parties staged a protest against the 12% electricity tariff increase in front of KLCC Sunday. Parti Keadilan Rakyat information bureau chief Tian Chua led the protest which began at 10am. More than 600 people, including PAS and DAP members, took part in the protest. PAS youth chief Salahuddin Ayub and DAP NGO bureau chief Ronnie Liu were among the opposition leaders involved.
At about 11am when the protest grew rowdy, police used a water cannon on demonstrators who refused to disperse.
Dang Wangi OCPD Asst Comm Kamal Pasha Jamal said police detained 18 men including Salahuddin and Liu as well as two women. “We have taken them to the Hang Tuah station lock-up for questioning. We will release them after that,” said ACP Kamal Pasha, adding that the crowd dispersed at 12pm.
(report taken from here - just in case u want to verify that it was that short!)
Here are excerpts of wat took place, given by Malaysiakini:-
Things took a turn for the worse when the third speaker at the demonstration, DAP representative Ronnie Liu, expressed his gratitude for the support given by voters to the opposition at the recent Sarawak state elections. Immediately, the police through loudhailers issued an order for the crowd to disperse. The crowd ignored the warning, and five minutes later, water cannons were fired. Despite being drenched profusely, most of the crowd defiantly held their ground, prompting plainclothes police officers to move in and make random arrests.
As the crowd moved out of the water cannons' range, the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) charged at them sending many protestors, including women and children, running for cover as shocked Sunday shoppers looked on.
In another altercation, one protestor was subdued by at least 10 FRU personnel. The protester held on to a police officer in a bid to shield himself from the blows, which included one from the butt end of a gas canister launcher.
Traces of blood stains were also found at the entrance of KLCC, where a scuffle between FRU personnel and an unidentified protestor had allegedly taken place. The protestor was believed to have been hospitalised for lacerations to the head.
Dang Wangi OCPD ACP Kamal Pasha (right) told reporters after the police wrapped up their operations at about 11.30am, that 18 individuals were arrested, including two women. Asked by malaysiakini if the use of force, especially the repeated kicking by his men, were justifiable, Kamal told reporters that his men had acted in self-defence.
Malaysiakini also quoted PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa as follows:-
"It was a clear act of very uncivilised brutality because the gathering was peaceful and meant for the people. The people who came did not represent just political parties, so it wasn’t a political issue. Those who came were from NGOs, students... It was also a mix of all races.
There was no reason why the police should have acted as such. The assembly was a very peaceful one, they knew one after another speaker was going to speak, and we intended to stay there no more than two hours. But after they started to shoot the water at us, and the beating started, it was as if we were criminals.
I was there at the hospital to look at those who had been beaten, some were hit on the head and their lips were bleeding. Even after they started bleeding, they were handcuffed. One had to have stitches, and was discharged only today. They beat people like animals".
So there you go - both sides of the story. One very sanitise, the other, far from it. I have to say i'm inclined to believe the latter - after all, we Malaysians know our police force very well. We have been bullied and pushed around, treated wif contempt and threatened by them, when we have not done anything to warrant such treatment.
Biased? Maybe.
But perhaps these photos taken on that day may lend some support to the latter version:-
Pics taken from Malaysiakini - apologies to those who may be upset due to the sight of blood
If not for the mailing list, i would have missed out on wat took place at KLCC last Sunday. After all, it wasn't highlighted in the Star. Sure, they reported it - but i had to search for it bfore finding it. And it was a really short report. It's so short that i'd reproduce the whole report here:-
Opposition party men protest power price hike
KUALA LUMPUR: Members of various opposition parties staged a protest against the 12% electricity tariff increase in front of KLCC Sunday. Parti Keadilan Rakyat information bureau chief Tian Chua led the protest which began at 10am. More than 600 people, including PAS and DAP members, took part in the protest. PAS youth chief Salahuddin Ayub and DAP NGO bureau chief Ronnie Liu were among the opposition leaders involved.
At about 11am when the protest grew rowdy, police used a water cannon on demonstrators who refused to disperse.
Dang Wangi OCPD Asst Comm Kamal Pasha Jamal said police detained 18 men including Salahuddin and Liu as well as two women. “We have taken them to the Hang Tuah station lock-up for questioning. We will release them after that,” said ACP Kamal Pasha, adding that the crowd dispersed at 12pm.
(report taken from here - just in case u want to verify that it was that short!)
Here are excerpts of wat took place, given by Malaysiakini:-
Things took a turn for the worse when the third speaker at the demonstration, DAP representative Ronnie Liu, expressed his gratitude for the support given by voters to the opposition at the recent Sarawak state elections. Immediately, the police through loudhailers issued an order for the crowd to disperse. The crowd ignored the warning, and five minutes later, water cannons were fired. Despite being drenched profusely, most of the crowd defiantly held their ground, prompting plainclothes police officers to move in and make random arrests.
As the crowd moved out of the water cannons' range, the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) charged at them sending many protestors, including women and children, running for cover as shocked Sunday shoppers looked on.
In another altercation, one protestor was subdued by at least 10 FRU personnel. The protester held on to a police officer in a bid to shield himself from the blows, which included one from the butt end of a gas canister launcher.
Traces of blood stains were also found at the entrance of KLCC, where a scuffle between FRU personnel and an unidentified protestor had allegedly taken place. The protestor was believed to have been hospitalised for lacerations to the head.
Dang Wangi OCPD ACP Kamal Pasha (right) told reporters after the police wrapped up their operations at about 11.30am, that 18 individuals were arrested, including two women. Asked by malaysiakini if the use of force, especially the repeated kicking by his men, were justifiable, Kamal told reporters that his men had acted in self-defence.
Malaysiakini also quoted PAS deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa as follows:-
"It was a clear act of very uncivilised brutality because the gathering was peaceful and meant for the people. The people who came did not represent just political parties, so it wasn’t a political issue. Those who came were from NGOs, students... It was also a mix of all races.
There was no reason why the police should have acted as such. The assembly was a very peaceful one, they knew one after another speaker was going to speak, and we intended to stay there no more than two hours. But after they started to shoot the water at us, and the beating started, it was as if we were criminals.
I was there at the hospital to look at those who had been beaten, some were hit on the head and their lips were bleeding. Even after they started bleeding, they were handcuffed. One had to have stitches, and was discharged only today. They beat people like animals".
So there you go - both sides of the story. One very sanitise, the other, far from it. I have to say i'm inclined to believe the latter - after all, we Malaysians know our police force very well. We have been bullied and pushed around, treated wif contempt and threatened by them, when we have not done anything to warrant such treatment.
Biased? Maybe.
But perhaps these photos taken on that day may lend some support to the latter version:-
Pics taken from Malaysiakini - apologies to those who may be upset due to the sight of blood
Addendum: I was also reading - with part amusement, part frustration - about the criticisms by the police against the setting up of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (Read about it here)! Part of the reasons include thier concerns (kononnya) that it may victimise the people!!!! Riiiiiiggggghhhhhttt!
Sigh... why am i not surprised? As me lecturers alway say, "Turkeys don't vote for Christmas".
Sigh... why am i not surprised? As me lecturers alway say, "Turkeys don't vote for Christmas".
# posted by imissw : 9:08:00 pm
