Why Use Force On A Peaceful Gathering?

Let me reprint a report from my email:

In an apparent attempt to get rid of evidence, the'Thugs in Uniform', The Royal Malaysian Police has harassed, assaulted and confisticated or damaged cameras belonging to local and international journalists covering the fracas during the Bersih 3.0 event in Kuala Lumpur. According to Al Jazeera, their journalists were roughed up by the police and their camera was damaged by the police. Al Jazeerareported that scores of unarmed Bersih 3.0 participants were brutally assaulted by the police even though they were unarmed and showed no signs of aggression. In a live crossover interview, Al Jazeera journalist Harry Fawcett reported that he and his cameraman were faced with alleged police violence as well. "I'm coming to you via Skype from an iPad because the Malaysian police has just busted our camera," said Fawcett."In a number of instances, we saw a policeman grabbing a protester while the other would punch, knee or slap the protester. "We went to try to film that ourselves, and found ourselves subject to not that harsh treatment but not dissimilar. "We were shoved and held, our camera pushed to the ground. Perhaps they were under instruction to prevent the media from filming this kind of thing," he added.






One photographer told Malaysiakini that after he refused to delete photographs of a melee, a police personnel removed his memory card and destroyed it. It was confirmed by Guang Ming Daily that one of their photographers was arrested while taking photographs of the process of an arrest and alleged police assault. A Channel News Asia video cameraman has vowed to lodge a police report after he was punched. "Furthermore, they took our tripod," said the cameraman Kenny Lew. Meanwhile, a Merdeka Review photographer said claimed she was assaulted by four police personnel who attempted to seize her camera and mobile phone. "They pulled my media accreditation card and kicked it to a side. They then demanded that I leave or face arrest," she said.



The Scribe has received reports that elements of BN/Umno linked TIGA LINE thugs may be the agent provocateurs that breached the police barricade and charged at the police at Merdeka Square. They were also the ones who 'staged' the overturning of the police car. Bersih says it is shocked by allegations that some of its supporters had acted violently during the Bersih 3.0 rally today. Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan described allegations of violence committed by the movement’s supporters as “highly unusual”. This explains why the police stood and watched when the thugs overturned the police car and no arrests were made. Batu MP Tian Chua and former International Islamic University (UIA) law professor Dr Abdul Aziz Bari have been arrested. "Now I'm arrested, police hit us as we were dragged thru rows of rowdy officers - many got beaten up after being arrested," reads Chua's tweet.