Arrested protesters ‘slapped and kicked’

The Sun Daily 
by ALYAA ALHADJRI

KUALA LUMPUR: Policemen stationed in the vicinity of the Royal Selangor Club in Jalan Raja during the Bersih 3.0 rally were seen “slapping and kicking” protesters who had 

already been arrested.

Bersih independent advisory panel chairman Tun Hanif Omar said according to witnesses the assault was carried out while the detainees were being taken to a nearby holding point, before being brought to the police training centre (Pulapol) in Jalan Semarak. 

Hanif and three other panel members yesterday visited the club where four witnesses, including theSuneditor (special and investigative reporting) R. Nadeswaran, showed the 

vantage point from where they had viewed the manhandling of protesters.

Nadeswaran, who had testified at the inquiry last month, was at the club at the request of the panel who wanted to know the exact locations from where he witnessed the assault.

His testimony was corroborated by three others – lawyer P S Gill, publisher and president of the Malaysian chapter of the International Advertisers’ Association Hamander Singh and human resources consultant G.S. Chahal.

Two of the witnesses, who showed images that they had captured on their mobile phones, also agreed to a request from Hanif that they make copies of the photographs and video footage for the panel.

When met after the panel meeting, Hanif said the witnesses described how the arrested protesters were dragged from the corner of Jalan Raja, all the way past the front of the club and towards police cars parked near the library at the other end of the road.

“Along the way, witnesses saw how the police dragged protesters and the conditions that they were in. Many male protesters were without shoes and T-shirts, with visible signs 

of injuries. 

“The witnesses however did not see how the injuries were sustained,” said Hanif. Police were seen dragging protesters in a “headlock”, and those stationed in front of the 

club had taken the opportunity to further kick and slap them as they passed. 

“No female protesters were however seen to be hurt. Police had merely escorted them and did not drag them to the waiting patrol cars,” he said.

A separate ongoing inquiry conducted by the National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) had also heard similar testimonies from protesters who had been arrested and taken to Pulapol. 

The sixth witness, Adrian Loh, had on Monday told the Suhakam panel he was brought to a holding point where a large number of protesters were “bleeding and bruised”.