Police are humans too but NO excuse for them to harm unarmed protesters

DPM tells cops to show proof, let public judge Bersih

By Debra Chong

July 17, 2011

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin speaking at a press conference at the Chow Kit wet market today. — Picture by Jack Ooi

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today that the police should show all the evidence they have collected over the controversial Bersih 2.0 rally last week and leave it to the public to judge the truth.  He expressed confidence that the citizens would understand and appreciate the police had acted as they did to secure public peace and order, which was what the majority wished for.
He was responding to Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who said a few days ago that the police have recordings of everything that happened on July 9, including videos that counter the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact’s allegations of police brutality on the massive crowds who had taken to the streets to rally for electoral reform.
“The police have nothing to hide. Whatever we have in our possession (as proof) will be used to answer the allegations. The evidence will also be handed over to the Attorney-General for action,” Hishamuddin told a news conference last Monday.
“So to break the opposition’s lies and twisting of facts… if the police are ready with the evidence in whatever form, be it video… then show it so the public can judge who is on the truthful side,” Muhyiddin told reporters today after a morning walkabout in the city’s Sunday wet market.
“Don’t just view from one side,” he urged the public, referring to allegations that have been repeatedly raised by the opposition PR and other NGOs this past week, that the authorities had acted “out of the norm” on July 9.
Muhyiddin said the opposition have used social media, such as Youtube, to present the views from their side that supports their case of police brutality.
“They did not show what happened before that. Perhaps there was provocation, stones being thrown, yelling… the police are human too,” he said, in defending the police.
The DPM also said that Malaysian citizens should also understand that the authorities had acted as they did to control the situation from spiralling out of control.
“Rakyat has to understand and be thankful that this place has returned to normal
The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition has been put on the defensive over the Bersih rally for the past one week, as the global community from Singapore to the UK criticised the Najib administration’s handling of public dissent following its outlawing of the July 9 march demanding free and fair elections.
The New York Times reported that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told a small group of international reporters on Wednesday that “if we allow for street demonstrations, there’s no end to it, there will be another group that wants to demonstrate.”
Police fired tear gas and water cannons at tens of thousands of demonstrators who poured into the city last weekend and arrested nearly 1,700 as scores were injured and the husband of a PKR division leader died in the ensuing chaos.
The Najib administration has embarked on a damage control exercise, sending Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor to Indonesia to explain its actions to the regional giant and also sent a letter in response to the Wall Street Journal’s stinging tone against Putrajaya’s reaction to Bersih.
The electoral reform group had gone ahead with Saturday’s march despite the government ban and the lack of a police permit, insisting it had a constitutional right to voice its demands.
Bersih had initially accepted Najib’s offer to move its street rally to a stadium but negotiations broke down when the coalition of 62 NGOs insisted on the historic Stadium Merdeka despite being told by authorities to move its gathering outside of the capital.

Umno-led BN will always defend the police that serves only protect its master Umno.