KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — The DAP today blamed IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan for “excessive, unwarranted and inhumane” police action in crushing yesterday’s anti-Internal Security Act (ISA) rally, and lashed out at the authorities for trying to “remand 13-year-old boys instead of criminals”.
Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng urged the Barisan Nasional (BN) government to disassociate itself from Musa and the harsh police action.
Police used teargas and water cannon to disperse more than 20,000 protesters yesterday and arrested almost 600 people in the biggest demonstration in the country’s capital in almost two years.
The prime minister defended the action today and said that the police had a duty to preserve public order.
The protest could put further pressure on Datuk Seri Najib Razak whose popularity is under threat after the mysterious death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock.
Images of riot police turning downtown Kuala Lumpur into a battlezone by chasing and beating unarmed demonstrators is not likely to do much good to a prime minister hoping to project an image of being a reformist.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders will be hoping to reclaim the reform agenda from Najib, who had managed to claw back some momentum for BN since he took office in April.
The DAP party boss gave his full backing today to yesterday’s protests, saluting the courage of more than 50,000 people who gathered peacefully in Kuala Lumpur to demand the abolition of the ISA which allows detention without trial and is abused as a political weapon against opponents of BN.”
The arrests of 589 people, he said, constitute a record for the largest number of arrests for one single event.
“DAP congratulates Gerakan Mansuh ISA(GMI) and its co-ordinator Syed Ibrahim Syed Nor, for successfully focusing world attention on ordinary Malaysians’ yearning for freedom, basic human rights and justice by demanding an immediate repeal of the ISA.
“The BN must take heed of the repugnance of the people towards ISA and that arresting more people would not deter or diminish the people’s cries to end such an unjust law.”
Lim also condemned the police and said: “Something is very wrong with our IGP when the police arrest and even remand 13 year old boys instead of criminals.”
“If BN is sincere about holding discussions on the ISA, then it must first agree to discuss with GMI and the opposition parties about abolishing the ISA.”
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