SUHAKAM
Report of Public Inquiry into the Incidents During and
After the Public Assembly of 28 April 2012
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8.14 According to Christopher Leong Sau Foo (W40), he was part of the Malaysia Bar
Monitoring Team. There were about 78 lawyers who volunteered to be part of the
monitoring team. They were divided into teams and assigned to different locations.
There were also a roving monitoring team. The locations44 were as follows:
i)
KLCC
ii)
Masjid Jamek
iii) Jalan Sultan
iv) Central Market
v)
Brickfields
vi) Masjid Negara
8.15 The Malaysian Bar teams were briefed before carrying out their monitoring activities.
The teams were reminded to identify themselves as observers at all times and were
not allowed to participate in the assembly.
8.16 The observers were required to wear black/dark attire and they were supplied with
a tag with the Malaysian Bar’s logo and the words PEMERHATI/OBSERVER on it.
8.17 W40 informed the Panel that the Malaysian Bar had written to the Inspector-General
of Police informing him of their desire to monitor the assembly. However, there
was no response to that letter.
8.18 Meanwhile, according to the SUHAKAM’s report, there were 16 officers and staff
on duty on 28 April. They were divided into 7 teams and stationed at the various
meeting points as mentioned above. They were given instructions to monitor the
assembly and record any human rights violations, if any. The monitoring team
prepared a report, which the Commission took into consideration, among others,
when deciding on the need for a public inquiry into the events of 28 April.
Panel’s Observations
8.19 The Panel was informed that unlike the previous Bersih 2.0 assembly of 9 July 2011,
there was no prior meeting between the police and the LRT operator, resulting in
the lack of co-ordination and conflicting decisions. This was most evident when
Tuan Hj Khairani bin Mohamed (W41) ordered the cancellation of Code Romeo
at 5.30 pm, only to be ordered by the police to close the LRT stations again. The
effect of the closure was to prevent the participants who wanted to leave the area
from dispersing.
44
The meeting points for the participants