Report shows rally participants turned unruly, verbally abusive
(Bernama) — Security personnel on duty during Saturday’s opposition-backed rally in the city which descended into chaos had to deal with unruly behaviour of rally participants who were also verbally abusive.
The Malaysian Bar, in its interim report on the gathering, said that words like ‘garbage’ (sampah) ‘dog’ (anjing) and ‘mangy dog’ (anjing kurap) were hurled at police and Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) who were on duty.
It said that at around 2.50pm, near the barricades at Dataran Merdeka, some of its monitors observed rally participants shouting ‘enter, let’s enter’ (masuk, kita masuk).
“The police force then used water cannons as well as fired tear gas towards the participants. The monitors, who were trapped within the crowd of participants, then heard a group of participants yelling ‘retreat, retreat’ (undur, undur).
“However, some of the participants kept on shouting ‘enter, enter’ (masuk, masuk),” the report said, adding that some of the monitors observed participants of the rally taunting policemen and FRU at another location, especially after tear gas and water cannons were used.
“Some of the participants also hurled words like ‘dogs, dogs’ (anjing, anjing) and ‘mangy dogs’ (anjing kurap) at police and FRU officers,” said the 31-page document.
The report was a result of monitoring by 78 members of the Bar and some pupils-in-chambers, including office bearers of the Malaysian Bar who volunteered to be part of the monitoring team.
The report said that some of the monitors heard rally participants calling police officers ‘garbage’ (sampah) as they passed the police line.
“The police officers, however, did not heed what was said by the participants or retaliate,” the monitors reported, alluding to a 12.50pm incident near the roundabout at Jalan Kinabalu.
It further said that between 12pm and 1pm, participants at the intersection of Jalan Tun Perak, Jalan Tuanku Andul Rahman and Jalan Raja booed and jeered at policemen but there was no retaliation from the police.
The report mentioned that rally participants, at times, threw objects like cans, empty plastic bottles and other items at police and City Hall vehicles moving along Jalan Tun Perak between 12pm and 2pm.
It also contained the monitors’ observations regarding how police handled the situation.
The report said that the Malaysian Bar would extend its full cooperation to the authorities in its investigation of Saturday’s events.
Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee told a news conference today that it hoped to engage the police and the executive as well as the public for a closer consultation on the matter.
