Police fire teargas at protesters, 321 held

The police are expected to make arrests in the coming hours.

KUALA LUMPUR: Police fired teargas at protesters at Dataran Merdeka here today as the lock-down of the federal capital goes into full swing.

The riot police fired the teargas rounds at the protesters gathering at Dataran Merdeka in preparation for the march to Stadium Merdeka scheduled for 2pm.

The number of those arrested has also increased drastically to more than 321.

Most of them were picked up near Masjid Jamek, Masjid Negara and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. They have been transported to the police training centre (Pulapol) in Jalan Semarak.

The crowd of Bersih supporters appeared to be swelling at these locations prompting police to swing into action. The largest gathering was at Masjid Negara with some 300 to 400 Bersih supporters chanting the “takbir”. They had been told to disperse but have yet to do so.

The police are expected to make arrests in a couple of minutes. The Bersih supporters are at the old KTM building beside the national mosque.

Meanwhile, the police said they have the situation under control. Contacted at noon, acting city police chief Amar Singh told FMT that everything is in order and the city is “very safe”.

However, he declined to comment on the number of people arrested so far, saying that the figures will be revealed at a press conference later in the day.

Police have mounted roadblocks at all major roads leading to the city while LRT passengers are being checked since early this morning.

FMT reporters on the ground report that there was heavy police presence in the city, especially in “hotspots” like Dataran Merdeka, Masjid Negara, Jalan Tun Perak, and Jalan Raja Laut, just to name a few.

Late last night police “raided” small hotels in the city to flush out outstation Bersih supporters who have come to the city for the rally.

Police have also been using helicopters to monitor the situation since this morning.

They have mounted a roadblock at the Sungai Besi toll, checking all cars. The roadblock has caused a traffic snarl for those wanting to enter the city, which, for the time being, resembles a ghost town with hardly any cars on the roads.

Dataran Merdeka, meanwhile, has been completely cordoned off.

Reports from the ground also say that the LRT system seems to be running smoothly but policemen have been placed at all stations.

They were seen checking bags of suspected passengers. At least four people have been arrested at the Masjid Jamek LRT station, while another eight near the Sogo shopping centre at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

There are also reports that some stations like the Jalan Maharajalela LRT station have been shut down for the time being.

Among those arrested at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman is a protester who identified himself as Omar Mokhtar Abdullah.

Omar shouted at the police as they were approaching a larger group of protesters to warn them to disperse.

“Don’t worry, (Kelantan Menteri Besar) Nik Aziz (Nik Mat) will be here with many buses, coming to Kuala Lumpur!”

After a few attempts to get him to leave, police then grabbed Omar and led him to a patrol car.

Omar earlier showed FTM an allegedly self-made yellow T-shirt with the words: “Kotor, Dark Justice”.
He said that he chose “Kotor” to refer to the government. “Dark Justice”, Omar claimed, was his nickname.

The Bersih rally is organised to cal for free and fair elections. The government has banned the organisation but gave the go-ahead for the rally in a stadium.

Bersih organisers had suggested Stadium Merdeka as the venue but failed to get approval from stadium management for the use of the historic site.

They had also failed to obtain police permit for the planned event.

At the stadium itself, the situation is calm. The police have mounted roadblocks at Jalan Maharajalela and Jalan Stadium.

About 30 policemen have been stationed at the entrance of the stadium.

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