Suhakam: Police unprepared to face Bersih crowd

The Sun Daily (Used by permission)
by Pauline Wong

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 8, 2012): The police squad assigned to keep the peace at Masjid Jamek and Jalan Tun Perak during the April 28 Bersih 3.0 rally was ill-prepared to face the crowd of almost 30,000 protesters.

ASP Mohd Akmal Abdullah told the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) yesterday that his team of some 300 officers was stationed at the Masjid Jamek/Jalan Tun Perak area from 8am but was pulled out at 1.30pm.

"We entered the area at 8am, where I gave a short briefing to all the officers to maintain peace without using any force, at all times. We were not equipped with any riot control equipment or were we supported by a light strike force unit," he told Suhakam commissioner Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee.

Mohd Akmal said that around 1.30pm, the order came from Dang Wangi OCPD Mohamad Zulkarnain Abd Rahman to pull out from the area and return to the Dang Wangi police station.

Mohd Akmal said his team was pulled out because it was "under-strength" and would not be able to face the large number of protesters on that stretch of the street.

Khaw heads the independent panel investigating allegations of human rights abuses during the rally.

She asked Mohd Akmal if he was aware that there had been reports of confrontation between police and protesters in the area where he was on duty.

"Yes, but in my opinion, if there was any action taken in my area, logically it would be taken by officers in charge of the Dataran Merdeka area," he said. "As far as I understand, the confrontation began there."

The rally, which saw almost 80,000 people taking to the streets for clean and fair elections, started out peacefully but turned ugly when the barriers in front of Dataran Merdeka were breached by protesters around 3pm.

Riot police fired tear gas and chemical-laced water to disperse protesters who tried to enter the square.