Police mull use of stink bombs

The Sun
by Radzi Razak

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 16, 2012): Police are considering deploying "stink bombs" at riots and demonstrations in the future for more effective crowd dispersal.

The police liaison officer at the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) inquiry into Bersih 3 rally, ACP Jamaluddin Abdul Rahman, said police are looking for alternatives to the use of water cannon and tear gas.

He said the stink bombs would emit smells which would not wear off easily.

"We are thinking that as a deterrent, we might use very smelly substances on rioters.

"The chemical substances really stink. The rioters can't even visit a shopping complex, so they would go home," he told Suhakam commissioners who were visiting the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) base in Cheras today.

However, Jamaluddin, who is from the police Internal Security and Public Order Department, said everything was still in the planning phase.

Suhakam inquiry panellists Prof Datuk Dr Mahmood Zuhdi Abdul Majid and Detta Samen were also present as part of the public inquiry into allegations of human rights abuses during the Bersih 3.0 rally.

During the visit, an FRU personnel was asked to step on sheets of paper, so that his boot prints could be compared with those found on the T-shirts of Bersih 3.0 protesters who had alleged that they were stomped by the police.

Jamaluddin and FRU Unit 1 commanding officer Supt Zahari Mohd Yusoff also showed some of the equipment used during the Bersih 3.0 rally, including barbed wire, tear gas shells, and the FRU command vehicle.

Commenting on the events of the rally on April 28, Jamaluddin said the police gave ample warning and time for the crowd to disperse, including using a speaker that could be heard more than 100m away.

"When we gave the warning, the crowd cheered. That meant they heard us but chose to react differently," he said.

He said the FRU had been given orders to exercise restraints when handling the crowd.

He said the FRU fired more than 900 rounds of tear gas over five hours to disperse the crowd that day.