Anwar Ibrahim |
- ‘Hospital Hit By Water Cannon Spray, Tear Gas’
- Anwar Warns Najib Of Popular Revolt
- Liputan Aljazeera DiHimpunan Aman BERSIH 2.0
- Malaysia Clamps Down on Unrest
| ‘Hospital Hit By Water Cannon Spray, Tear Gas’ Posted: 10 Jul 2011 06:24 AM PDT Police shot tear gas and sprayed water from water cannons into the compound of the Tung Shin Hospital along Jalan Pudu, according to two of its staff, in order to disperse the crowd from the Bersih 2.0 rally yesterday.
The middle-aged man who wanted to remain anonymous, said that the police started firing tear gas towards a group of people who gathered in front of the Chinese medicine hospital and the male staff hostel which are located beside the main building. The police then broke into the compound and start arresting people, while some of the protesters successfully fled to the small hill beside Tung Shin Hospital to avoid arrest, he said when interviewed byMalaysiakini. Police denial The inspector-general of police Ismail Omar and Kuala Lumpur acting police chief Amar Singh, have denied that the riot police fired tear gas into the premises of Tung Shin hospital.
The Tung Shin staff member said that the protesters were cornered by the Federal Reserve Unit who sealed off both ends of the road. He said they were forced to flee into Tung Shin hospital because they were unable to get into the Plaza Rakyat abandoned project site which is right opposite the hospital. He thought that the police could have done better to avoid the hospital getting involved.
He stressed that although there were more than 500 people at the scene, they behaved well without being noisy or destroying anything. “They know this is a hospital, hence their actions were very respectful in order to let the hospital can operate as usual. “There was some chaos when the police start firing tear gas. They hid inside the hospital, and waited quietly until the gas was gone,” he added. One of the ambulance drivers of the hospital also said that the crowd behaved peacefully in front of the hospital, but many of them rushed into the toilet to wash their faces in order to ease the pain of the tear gas. He said that the hospital didn’t suffer any losses and the incident didn’t cause any impact to the patients. |
| Anwar Warns Najib Of Popular Revolt Posted: 10 Jul 2011 06:17 AM PDT Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told his rival Datuk Seri Najib Razak today to carefully consider the tension on the ground in the aftermath of the chaotic Bersih rally yesterday instead of covering up the situation with lies. After a bruising clash between police and demonstrators yesterday which saw 1,700 arrested, one dead and scores including himself injured, the opposition leader accused the government of lying over the number of protestors and making the false claim that no one was hurt. Speaking at a dialogue with young professionals today, the opposition leader was asked if Malaysia was about to experience a "Hibiscus Revolution", a reference to the national flower. "We have no confidence left in (the government), so it is important for Najib to consider seriously, we are close (to a revolution)," Anwar said, adding that racial tension was also simmering. The PKR de facto leader told reporters later that it was time that Najib "listen and not be so arrogant with the use of brute force. The people have become impatient. They have submitted memorandums, they have even gone to see the king. What else can they do now?" Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said yesterday evening that only 6,000 attended the rally for free and fair elections and no one was hurt but Bersih claimed an attendance of 50,000 and several Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders were hospitalised after yesterday afternoon's events. Bersih has also blamed the police for the death of Baharudin Ahmad, the husband of Setiawangsa PKR division chief Rosni Malan, who was said to have died because the police had withheld medical aid from Baharudin after he collapsed while running away from tear gas and water cannon fire. A view of the Bersih rally protesters experiencing another episode of tear gas in Kuala Lumpur July 9 2011. "We have not discussed it yet but we are not ruling out any of our options," he said. Yesterday's rally by the electoral reforms movement went ahead despite the government's refusal to allow the coalition of 62 NGOs to meet in Stadium Merdeka. Bersih had chosen the historical venue after it accepted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's offer to move its street rally to a stadium. However, both Putrajaya and the police told the movement that was outlawed last week to move its demonstration outside the capital. Police began its clampdown on the movement since the beginning of July, arresting hundreds, confiscating Bersih-related material and remanding six under the Emergency Ordinance. Roadblocks set up around the city saw Kuala Lumpur reduced to a ghost town on Friday night before it descended into chaos on Saturday as thousands clashed with police on the streets of the capital. |
| Liputan Aljazeera DiHimpunan Aman BERSIH 2.0 Posted: 09 Jul 2011 10:17 AM PDT |
| Malaysia Clamps Down on Unrest Posted: 09 Jul 2011 10:04 AM PDT Weeks of rising tensions in Malaysia boiled over Saturday as police fired tear gas and water cannons on activists in downtown Kuala Lumpur and arrested more than a thousand people at the country’s largest political rally in several years. Thousands of protesters seeking reforms to Malaysia’s electoral system descended upon central Kuala Lumpur by mid-afternoon, despite stern warnings from the government, which sealed off roads and shut down train stations to try to keep people away. Federal police said they had detained 1,667 people. Ambiga Sreenevasan, one of the main organizers of the rally, had been detained but was later released. Authorities fired their water cannons and tear gas to scatter the crowds as they tried to mass near the city’s famous Merdeka Stadium, while helicopters buzzed overhead. Witnesses said police charged on demonstrators with batons, while other protesters shouted “Reform!” and “Long live the people!” There were no immediate reports of serious injuries. Authorities estimated the total number of protesters at 5,000, though supporters of the activists said they believed the number was as high as 50,000. Police use tear gas on demonstrators in Malaysia as opposition leader is among those injured. Video courtesy of Reuters. The rally – and the government’s response – could dent Malaysia’s reputation as one of Asia’s most stable and predictable countries. Although the predominantly-Muslim nation is often held up as a model in the Muslim world for its successful economy and modern infrastructure, it has become increasingly fractured along racial lines in recent years as ethnic Chinese, Indian and other residents demand reforms to boost their standing compared with the country’s powerful Malay majority. Activists organized Saturday’s rally to publicize their demands for changes to Malaysia’s electoral system, including equal media coverage for all election candidates and stronger measures to curb fraud, including the past practice of people voting multiple times. Although fresh elections aren’t required under Malaysian law until spring 2013, many analysts expect Prime Minister Najib Razak – whose ruling coalition has long dominated the country – to call them much earlier. Authorities have argued that the group behind the rally – known as Bersih, or “clean”— is outlawed because it is not formally registered, and that its real intent is to boost opposition parties ahead of any planned vote and threaten public order. Bersih leaders contend their group is a coalition of existing registered organizations and therefore valid. A government spokesman said Saturday afternoon that the protesters ignored efforts by authorities to steer them to a sanctioned rally site and that officials therefore had no choice but to take actions to protect ordinary citizens. Officials also noted that at least two well-known pro-government protesters were detained after clashing with police. Mr. Najib said Saturday that the protesters only represent a minority of Malaysians and that he still enjoys the support of most people. “If there are people who want to hold the illegal rally, there are even more who are against their plan,” he said, according to the national news agency, Bernama. Authorities arrested more than 200 activists in the days leading up to the protest, leading to a rare intervention by Malaysia’s constitutional monarch, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, who issued a statement asking both sides to step back from the brink of a broader conflict. The tensions appeared to ease for a while, as protest organizers negotiated with authorities to schedule a sanctioned rally at a site approved by the government. But the talks broke down by week’s end, and government officials began warning residents it would tolerate no public demonstration at all. The last time Bersih held a protest in Kuala Lumpur, in 2007, a similar script played out, with tens of thousands of people appearing and authorities resorting to water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowds. A few months later, the ruling National Front coalition lost its two-thirds majority in Malaysia’s Parliament for the first time in decades. Since then, Mr. Najib has had some success in calming matters and reasserting his backers’ control. He took over the premiership in 2009 with a goal of halting the opposition’s momentum and backed modest economic reforms that helped win back some support for the ruling United Malays National Front. He also launched a “1Malaysia” campaign aimed at celebrating the country’s racial diversity and bridging some of its ethnic divides. He benefited, too, from the ongoing troubles for Malaysia’s charismatic opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who authorities put on trial for allegedly breaking Malaysia’s strict sodomy laws, which he denies. Mr. Anwar said on Twitter Saturday that he sustained a “minor injury” at the rally when his group was hit by tear gas, the Associated Press said, though immediate details on his condition were not available. A press aide for Mr. Anwar said he was leaving a Kuala Lumpur hotel when he was hit with the tear gas. Some analysts believe the opposition will be emboldened by the rally, and the government’s difficulty in containing it, and may take other steps in the months ahead. The protest “will have long-term consequences for Najib because there will be a blowback – a lot of people thought we were past authoritarian methods,” said James Chin, a political science professor at the Malaysian campus of Australia’s Monash University, speaking before the demonstrations kicked off. If the authorities had allowed the protest to go ahead without interference, it likely would have passed without major incident, he said. “It is a stupid thing they overreacted” and tried to block it, he said. Protesters on the scene, meanwhile, said they were heartened by the turnout despite official efforts to keep the number of participants low. “The system must change,” said one protester from the northern state of Kedah, Akashnan Ahmad, whose glasses were smashed in a confrontation with police. “Look around, see the young faces – they want clean elections.” “We have proven a point despite all the attacks on the people,” said another protester, S. Arutchelvan, who is Secretary General of the Socialist Party of Malaysia. |
One of the staff who is in charge of ambulance management, said that the police fired tear gas three times. He added the spray from the water cannons was unable to reach the main hospital, but hit a building in the compound.
However,Malaysiakini has received many photos from the public showing the police spraying water and shooting tear gas shells into the compound, to rebut the claims of the police.
“If the police could drive out the crowd from Masjid Jamek to the hospital, they could also drive out them further away. There’s no need to for the hospital to be involved in a siege. But they left the crowd no choice, but to head for the hospital,” he added.| You are subscribed to email updates from Anwar Ibrahim To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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