Two victims of alleged police brutality during the Bersih protest lodged reports against their aggressors.
PETALING JAYA: A Bersih protester in search of food was allegedly served with a police beating instead during the final hours of the April 28 rally.
At about 7pm that day, Abdul Razib Abu, 45, was riding his motorcycle near the Dang Wangi police station when he was suddenly jumped by several policemen.
“I was looking for food and I wanted to go home, so I took my bike to Jalan Raja Laut. But many of the roads were blocked, so I had to ride near the Dang Wangi station.
“There were a lot of policemen, and they charged me while I was still on the bike and hit me from behind,” he said, adding that he was wearing a yellow Bersih T-shirt at the time.
He said that “eight to 12″ policemen – all without name tags – bruised him, grabbed his T-shirt and chased him off.
Abdul Razib was one of two people who lodged reports with the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters against alleged police brutality during the recent Bersih 3.0 rally today.
They were accompanied by Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) member Fadiah Nadwa Fikri and Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah.
Pang Choy Wan, 27, was hit by a tear gas canister after riot police seemingly shot at her from about 10 metres away.
Pang said that she was walking with 10 people – including a few senior citizens – when they suddenly stumbled into riot police by the HSBC Building, near Dataran Merdeka.
Upon seeing the group, police shot at them without warning, she said. One of tear gas canisters, Pang added, struck her left thigh.
Speaking to reporters, Fadiah said more than 70 people had complained of Bersih-related police brutality so far.
Though unable to give the full number of police reports lodged, she advised the victims to seek LFL’s help before showing up at a police station.
“We wouldn’t advise them to come alone,” she said, citing previous cases where people going to police stations would allegedly end up being detained or beaten up.
By Patrick Lee | May 17, 2012
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