BMC residents doused and gassed

Andrew Ong May 9, 08 10:51am
The tranquil suburb of Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) descended into chaos last night when police doused some 500 residents with water cannons and fired dozens of tear gas canisters into the crowd.

During the melee, Segambut member of parliament Lim Lip Eng and BMC Open Road Committee chairperson Tan Boon Hwa were allegedly assaulted by plainclothes police officers.



The incident occurred shortly after Lim arrived at the scene at about 10pm to lend support to the residents who had gathered at the Bandar Tun Hussien Onn intersection of the Kajang-Cheras Highway.

The highway concessionaire Grand Saga Sdn Bhd was in the midst of erecting a concrete barrier - for the third time - aimed at thwarting the BMC residents from entering the intersection and thus bypassing a toll booth on the highway.

This resulted in commuters having to travel an additional six kilometres and pay Grand Saga 90 sen toll for every trip [see Google map below].

At the time when Lim came to the area, the police were keeping a close watch on the residents who were gathering around Grand Saga employees working on the concrete barricade.

Lim had approached Grand Saga workers and the police to find out who was in charge of the construction work. After failing to get answers, he decided to remove the wires from the machines used by construction workers to weld the steel rods to reinforce the concrete barrier (left).



'I was maced, beaten'

Without the welding machines, Grand Saga workers withdrew, prompting residents to surge past riot police cordons and destroying the partly-completed barrier with their bare hands in a matter of minutes.

The jubilant crowd later tossed Lim into the air several times but the mood soured seconds later when the riot police issued warnings for the crowd to disperse.

Suddenly some 50 riot police took up attacking positions and there was a brief stand-off with the residents with only what remains of the barrier separating the authorities and the residents.

What followed was utter chaos when Lim tried to stop a water cannon truck from advancing by standing in front of the truck.

According to Lim, several plainclothes officers forcibly removed him and a melee ensued.

"They dragged me aside and sprayed mace on my face. I couldn't see. Then they punched me and kicked me," he told reporters about two hours after the incident.

His shirt was torn during the scuffle.

Selangor state executive councilor Ean Yong Hian Wah who was also at the scene told reporters that the Lim's beating only stopped when the police were told he was a parliamentarian.

Beaten in front of reporters

Lim, a trained lawyer, is a well-known figure among the residents as he has been serving as the legal advisor for the BMC Open Road Committee.

Meanwhile, committee chairperson Tan was among the crowd at the time of the fracas. Upon seeing Lim being assaulted, he rushed forward to aid him.

For his efforts, Tan too was allegedly assaulted and later arrested. Eyewitnesses claimed that he was punched at least once by a plainclothes officer in full view of a group of reporters and photographers.



Tan was bundled away in a police patrol car while a resident drove Lim and Ean Yong to a nearby clinic for medical treatment.

By this time, the police had already fired the water cannon once, but when it failed to break up the crowd, three rounds of tear gas were fired. The crowd eventually dispersed.

When approached by reporters last night, Kajang district deputy police chief Supt Toha Abdullah claimed that he was unaware of the police beatings.

He also said that the police had to disperse the crowd because they were "menggangu tugas keselamatan pihak polis” (interfering with police security duties).

In all, three residents and Tan were arrested.

When Kajang district police chief Shakaruddin Che Mood was contacted shortly after midnight, he said that the police had yet to decide what charges would be slapped on the detainees.

All four were released on bail early this morning.

According to Tan, as of 7pm today, Grand Saga had yet to re-erect the barrier and commuters are using the disputed access road without hindrance.

MP hospitalised after Cheras fracas

Andrew Ong May 9, 08 7:13pm
DAP member of parliament for Segambut, Lim Lip Eng, has been warded at 3pm today following his scuffle with police officers in Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) near Kajang last night.

According to Kampung Tunku assemblyperson Lau Weng San who notified the press on the matter, Lim was complaining of dizzy spells and could not open his eyes.

“His family had him warded for observation. We’re not sure what’s wrong with him,” said Lau.

Lim was at BMC yesterday in support of residents who tore down a barricade erected by Kajang-Cheras Highway concessionaire Grand Saga Sdn Bhd.

Subsequently, Federal Reserve Unit personnel fired tear gas and water cannons at the crowd simultaneously as Lim was involved in a fracas with the police (right).

He had told reporters last night that he suffered blows to the head and kicks to the body and his shirt was torn during the melee.

Lim was also hit with pepper sprayed on the face at a close range.

‘Body aching all over’

Lim is legal advisor to the BMC Open Road Committee which has been protesting against the barricade’s existence since last year.

Committee chairperson Tan Boon Hwa told Malaysiakini that Lim was suppose to accompany the residents to the Selangor state government complex this morning to hand a memorandum to the menteri besar.

“But he could not come. He said his body was aching all over,” said Tan.

DAP leaders and elected representatives are expected to visit Lim at the Selayang hospital tomorrow morning.

In a related development, Selangor state executive councillors Ronnie Liu and Ean Yong Hian Wah will be announcing the land survey results conducted by the Department of Surveying and Mapping (Jupen) on the site of the barricade tomorrow.

According to Tan, as of 7pm today, Grand Saga had yet to re-erect the barrier and commuters are using the disputed access road without hindrance.

Sedition reports: Defiant Karpal says PM seeks to divert attention

Fauwaz Abdul Aziz May 9, 08 7:22pm
DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh warned Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak of legal action should the pair continue to make 'defamatory remarks' against him.

"The prime minister should have taken legal advice from attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail before publicly attacking me for questioning the prerogative of Sultan Raja Azlan Shah as the head of religion in Perak, when I did not do so.

"I warn the prime minister that I will not hesitate to take legal action against him and his deputy if they persist in making defamatory remarks against me," he told a press conference at his legal office in Kuala Lumpur today.

The Bukit Gelugor MP also stated his refusal to backtrack over his position on the sultan’s order for the reinstatement of the state’s Islamic Department director Jamry Sury.



Sultan Azlan Shah gave instructions for Jamry to be reinstated after the latter was transferred to another department following what was alleged to be his refusal to cooperate with the new Pakatan Rakyat state government.

In response to the sultan’s orders, Karpal said early this month that Azlan Shah had acted beyond his powers as under the country's law, the Pakatan-led state government had every right to transfer Jamry as he is a government servant.

'I'll not be intimidated'

Commenting on this yesterday, Abdullah claimed that what Karpal said was seditious, insulting to the sultan and tantamount to questioning his prerogative and knowledge of his scope of duties as the state’s head of religion.

Najib, on the other hand, described Karpal’s statement as incorrect as the federal and state constitutions legally allow the sultan to act as he did.

Several police reports were also made yesterday by Barisan Nasional MPs and a Malay NGOs coalition, who accused Karpal of being seditious, rude and having insulted the institution of Malay rulers.

However, Karpal said he would not be intimidated by anyone, including Abdullah, and would sue for defamation over the allegation that he questioned the prerogative of the sultan as head of the religion in Perak.

"If his intention is to scare me, the prime minister is sadly mistaken. I will take him on if he persists in taking the line he’s taking now," he said.

As for the others who filed police reports, Karpal said he cannot see how his "statement over the transfer of Jamry impinged on the sultan’s prerogative as head of religion in his state."

"Clearly, I have committed no offence and those lodging reports against me should be prepared to face the consequences of lodging false reports," he added.

The veteran politician, who is also a renowned lawyer, said among the false assertions are that he had questioned the prerogative of the sultan or had insulted him.

"Those would be the (examples of) statements which are false, because they are not backed by documents or otherwise.

"If the police investigate and if the reports are false, then the necessary steps should be taken (to charge them for making false reports)," he added.

Citing a landmark Federal Court ruling in 1981, Karpal reiterated his argument that it was up to the Perak government to decide when and where it wanted to transfer a civil servant under its governance.

Emphasising his point, Karpal said he should be qualified to make such assertions as he had himself gone up to the Privy Council in United Kingdom - which until 1985 was the highest court in Malaysia - to argue the same point.

"I know the law. I did the case. I went right up to London to argue it... If any lawyer has another view, I’m prepared to have a dialogue on this," he said.

Diverting attention

Training his sights on Abdullah, Karpal claimed that the prime minister’s comments yesterday was an attempt to divert attention from the crisis within Umno pertaining to his leadership.

"Obviously, the prime minister is turning what is purely a legal issue into a political one with racial undertones. I would have expected the prime minister to be politically mature instead of joining others who are baying for my blood.

"It is equally obvious that the prime minister is trying to divert attention from his own shaky position after calls from numerous Umno divisions that he should step down and the challenge by (former Umno vice-president Tengku) Razaleigh Hamzah to take him on as Umno president in the coming Umno general assembly.

"Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is, without doubt, a lame duck prime minister," he said.

Recounting the charge of treason that BN MPs had leveled against him in Parliament on Thursday after the issue was raised, Karpal said he was adamant on not apologising for his statements even if they were to move to expel him.

"They better don’t, because I stand by what I have said. You don’t say something and then later back down or apologise.

"I gave it a lot of thought before I made the statements. I went into the law carefully and considered the position," he said.

"I’ve been in Parliament for 26 years and will not be intimidated by anyone. Why should I?"

"If they do (expel him), I’ll take them on. You can’t intimidate someone to submit to what you want. I don’t run away from challenges like this," he added.

Poll petition filed against Khairy's Rembau win

S Pathmawathy May 9, 08 3:37pm
An election petition has been filed to challenge the outcome of the Rembau parliamentary seat in Negeri Sembilan won by Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin in the March 8 polls.

The petition notes several alleged irregularities - chief of which being the discrepancy in the number of ballots issued.

The petition was filed by Khairy's contender - PKR supreme council member Badrul Hisham Shaharin - in the Seremban High Court on April 25.

Contacted today, Badrul's lawyer and PKR treasurer William Leong said the petition was filed to challenge the validity of the results and to "nullify the results on the grounds of irregularities."

Commenting on the number of ballots issued, he said: "The numbers do not tally. There is an additional 745 ballots that can't be explained."

The total number of ballots issued for the parliamentary seat was 48,901 but for the four state seats under it (Paroi, Chembong, Rantau and Kota), a total of 49,646 ballots were issued.

Khairy - who is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's son-in-law - won the seat with a thumping 5,746-vote majority.

The 32-year-old fledgling politician, who is serving his first term as an elected representative, has been one of the main targets of those critical of the Abdullah administration.

He has been accused of wielding tremendous influence over his father-in-law while some have gone to the extent of calling him the de facto prime minister.

Khairy has consistently denied the allegations.

Campaign material burnt

In the petition, Badrul claimed that he failed to receive Form 14 and that several voting stations were not provided with the forms as well.

Form 14 is a document listing the total number of voters at every polling station and is used as an indicator that allocates the number of votes for the respective candidates once vote-counting concludes.

Apart from this, Badrul also alleged that PKR campaign paraphernalia were burnt, torn and stolen.

He claimed that police reports and complaints with the Election Commission (EC) on this matter went unheeded.

Badrul also accused the local authorities of lending a hand to his rival by denying him the right to utilise the Rembau Municipal Council field while Khairy was allowed to do so during his campaign.

Among the other allegations was the partial restrictions imposed on the number of PKR supporters in the polling stations and in the returning centre during the elections.

"There are many glaring irregularities in this aspect," said Leong.

The EC has also been named as a respondent in the petition - which is one of six filed by the opposition following the elections.