ZAID: PUBLIC GATHERING ARE A DEMOCRATIC RIGHT - malaysiakini

Kuala Lumpur, November 10- Former de facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim today criticized the harsh measures taken by the police last night in cracking down on the Bersih rally in Petaling Jaya.

"A public gathering for the people to show their emotions and desires is one of the natural aspects in a democracy," he added.

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim believes that the police must realize that the public have a right to express their opinions and peaceful assemblies must be tolerated like in any other democracies.

By denying this right, he said Malaysia was reverting to the manners of its colonial masters.
Police arrested more than 20 people and allegedly manhandled MP Tony Pua and other other community leaders.

More than 250 people had gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the Bersih rally.

Zaid argued that the police should not have forcefully dispersed the crowd as a similar rally was held in Ipoh the night before and the police had allowed the event to take place.

He said the police and the higher authorities should not be mistaken that more force will bring an end to future gatherings.

Meanwhile, the DAP has also slammed Inspector General Police Tan
Sri Musa Hassan for the arrests and the crackdown, pointing out that on the same night a Mat Rempit mob assaulted five people in Kuala Lumpur.

Speaking to reporters in Parliament, parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said that Musa "has lost his sense of priorities" resulting in a rise from 156,315 criminal cases in 2003 to 209,559 last year, an increase of 34 per cent.

The rally had seen the arrest of PJ Utara MP Tony Pua, Selangor exco Ronnie Liu and Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San as well as two members of the press and a Catholic parish priest.

Several newspapers reported that Mat Rempit mob on Jalan Loke Yew beat five people unconscious after in the aftermath of another accident where an off-duty policeman allegedly made an illegal U-turn leading to the death of a motorcyclist and serious injury to five others.

"The police under Musa have got its priorities misplaced and this is illustrated in a most outrageous manner by what happened in the last
24 hours," Lim said, referring to the two events.

"What has Musa to say about the disgraceful mayhem where mob rule imposed a regime of sheer lawlessness without any police presence or intervention?" he said.

The Ipoh Timur MP also poured scorn on Musa's statement in The Star today, where the police chief assured the public "that the security of the country was very much under control" as the crime rate is not expected to increase this year.

"This is like a student who has scored an F7 for a subject last year still being proud he is still getting an F7 this year," Lim rebuked. -- TMI