Anwar Ibrahim |
| ‘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. |
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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