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Tuesday 3 August 2010

The police doth protest too much

By Tarani Palani | 02 August 2010 | The Nut Graph

Even before the arrival of anti-ISA protesters, there were an estimated 80 police personnel on the scene, including the Light Strike Unit. The heavy police presence raised eyebrows as the candlelight vigil was to be a peaceful gathering.
Organisers gathering in front of Amcorp Mall before marching to Dataran MBPJ, Padang Timur. Seen here in the foreground are Abolish the ISA movement (GMI) chief Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (face half hidden), Parti Sosialis Malaysia secretary-general S Arutchelvan, and GMI coordinator E Nalini. All three were among the 36 arrested by the end of the hour-long protest.
Police greeted the protesters and demanded their immediate dispersal of the “illegal” assembly. The organisers said they had a permit from the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ). But PJ police chief Arjunaidi Mohamed, who appeared later on the scene, said the MBPJ had no authority to issue such permits. He added that no police permit had been applied for for the gathering.


The Light Strike Unit closed in on protesters as the organisers demanded that the police allow them to continue with the vigil. Protesters abruptly burst into a rendition of 'Negaraku' as police persisted for the group to disperse.
Activists, reporters and the public scurrying from police personnel as police began dispersing the crowd.
The crowd retreated to the Amcorp Mall foyer and proceeded to light candles while singing 'Negaraku' under the police's watchful eyes. Police personnel began forming a human barricade to prevent protesters from moving back to the Dataran.


Midway through the demonstration, at around 8:30pm, traffic at Amcorp Mall was still normal despite the protest.
Police proceeded to the shopping mall entrance, forcing the gathering to retreat further into the mall. After a few minutes of scuffle, grilles were pulled down, creating a barrier between the police and the protesters.
Behind the barricade, protesters continued to sing 'Negaraku', and chanted, “Hidup, hidup, hidup rakyat”, “Undur, undur polis” and “BN kejam”.


Outside, stall owners in the foyer started packing up. Police were also seen asking the public to clear the area. Some people could be seen seeking refuge in a food outlet close by.
After regrouping, the protesters began moving towards the car park. The police again stopped their march and made several more arrests.
Finally, at about 9pm, the police left and the demonstrators began to disperse.


CANDLELIGHT vigils on the night of 1 Aug 2010 to protest against 50 years of the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for indefinite state detention without trial, were marred with arrests and heavy police presence.
In Petaling Jaya, around 200 protesters gathered for the vigil in Dataran Timur opposite Amcorp Mall from 8pm onwards. However, the police, numbering between 80 and 100, were intent on dispersing the peaceful gathering, citing the lack of a police permit. This led to an hour-long confrontation, and pandemonium, between the protesters and the police as the gathering moved from Amcorp Mall to Dataran Timur back to the mall.
By the end of the protest, 36 arrests were made. Twitter reports from the ground said police targeted those who carried candles or wore anti-ISA badges, or who wore red, the colour of the anti-ISA protest. Police also threatened to arrest those who chanted “Hidup, rakyat” outside the police station. Police eventually began releasing the arrested, on police bail, from 3am onwards.
Similar arrests were also made in Penang and Kelantan.
The heavy-handed police action against peaceful demonstrators has drawn flak from several quarters. According to the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0, to date, 10,662 people have been arrested under the ISA over the past 44 years. Suaram said 16 individuals were currently detained under the ISA, among whom 14 were detained after the government announced its review of the colonial era legislation.
Apart from the ISA, the state is also empowered to detain people without trial under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) and Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA). Suaram said as of February 2010, 819 individuals were detained without trial under the EO, while 412 were incarcerated under the DDA.
Hence, a total of more than 1,200 individuals are detained without trial in Malaysia.
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