SUHAKAM Report of Public Inquiry into the Incidents During and After the Public Assembly of 28 April 2012 Chapter 2 THE CONDUCT OF THE INQUIRY Witnesses and Public Hearing 2.1 The public hearing commenced on 5 July 2012 and ended on 10 January 2013. Altogether, the Panel of Inquiry sat for a total of 29 days during which 49 witnesses were called to testify before it. Most of the witnesses who were members of public and media were called based on the list provided by the civil society organisations whereas most of the police personnel were called based on the list provided by PRDM and testimonies of the witnesses at the hearings. The Commission subpoenaed all the witnesses under section 14 of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999. The table below shows the number of witnesses according to the various categories: No Total number of witnesses 1 Members of Public 19 2 Members of Media 4 3 Police Personnel 18 4 Professionals/Experts 8 Total 2.2 Category 49 The Panel also received 67 exhibits and identified documents (ID) (Annex 4), including documents, photographs, video recordings, news clippings, medical reports, and police reports during the course of the proceedings. Site Visits 2.3 Besides the public hearings, the Panel of Inquiry also made two site visits: a. Dataran Merdeka and the surrounding areas, Jalan Tun Perak, Masjid India, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and the DBKL building; and b. Kompleks Pasukan Simpanan Persekutuan Polis DiRaja Malaysia, Cheras where the police demonstrated the use of barbed wires, tear gas, command vehicle, sound commander and explained the procedures on crowd control. 7