[Right hand raised, for my statement is truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.]
On the night of 27 April 2012, I left for Dataran Merdeka (Independence
Square) after work to stay in Citin Hotel Masjid Jamek, at which I had made a
reservation weeks before the rally. There I met up with friends and scouted
Dataran Merdeka to plan for escape routes in case anything happened. The moment
we arrived, Bersih protestors had already flooded its entrance. They were
chanting and sit-in (duduk bantah). The square was all barb wired, guarded with
hundreds of policemen.
I started out at KLCC on the day of rally (28.04.2012) with the Himpunan Hijau
3.0 (Green Rally 3.0) group, where they marched from KLCC before joining the
rest at Dataran Merdeka for the sit-in.
The Green Rally 3.0 protestors gathered at Puduraya, then got to Dataran Merdeka
around 1pm. The entrance into the square was blocked and all barb wired. Green
Rally and Bersih protestors gathered along Masjid Jamek LRT station chanting,
“Stop Lynas”, “Hidup Bersih”, in a flooded sea of yellow and green, intonation
for Fair and Clean election, singing for Clean Environment.
Some started to sit down in front of the Masjid Jamek LRT Station, while some
gushed into the Square entrance chanting, “Buka, Buka!” (open, open). I was
taking shelter at OCBC and wasn’t sure what triggered the firing of tear gas and
water cannons. People fell back slowly after the first and second canisters
were fired, then after a couple of shots from another end of the road, they
began to panic as they had no means of retreat, creating a massive bottleneck
jam.
I walked slowly in the crowds trying to get back to my hotel to seek shelter
from the tear gas. Many people came unprepared – without towel, salt or water. I
had soaked a towel with salt a night before and offered it to the rest, trying
to help as many people as I could. After a couple of hiccups, I successfully
returned to Citin Hotel, where the security guards allowed only residents to
enter.
he was shot directly below chest by the FRU.
a brave young kid inside Citin Hotel, she was suffocating, she didn't cry but stay calm.
Half an hour later – around 3.45pm to 4.15pm – while I was sitting inside the
hotel cafe for some rest and refreshment, around three or four policemen
barged in without warrant. The instant one of them saw me, he pointed at me and
wanted to take me away. Grabbing me by the shoulder, he shouted, “You ikut
saya!” (you follow me). I then asked whether I was under arrest and on what
grounds, then told him I’d left my wallet and identification card in my bag, and
that I needed to get it.
But instead he repeatedly shouted, “You diam, ikut saya!” (shut up and follow
me). Leaving me no chance to grab my IC, I knew I’d be in trouble. So i raised
both my hands in the air and shouted, “I won’t struggle, I won’t struggle, I
won’t struggle!” inside the hotel foyer. I was then hit behind my head by
another policemen.Turning around, I saw that he kept both of his hands behind
his back, and wasn’t sure whether it was him who hit me. Distantly, I
heard the hotel security guard telling him not to hit me as I was a resident of
the hotel; the policeman just screamed and told him to shut up.
I think the security guard was saying, “CCTV, CCTV…”, though I can’t be sure
because I felt dizzy and had a dreadful headache. The policemen brought me all
the way from Citin Hotel to Dataran Merdeka, shouting for me to run, “I nak you
lari, LARI! LARI! LARI!”
I tried to calm him down and kept telling him that I wasn’t going to
struggle, and that I would follow what he said. As soon as I arrived at Dataran
Merdeka, a group of other policemen saw me and charged forward – kicking me on
my legs and back. I kept on telling the policemen who grabbed me that I was not
going to struggle with him. Only then, when the other policemen tried to charge
forward, he warned them not to hit me – “Jangan pukul dia.” I tried to look for
his name and batch number, but there was none.
Furthermore, I was refused the right to call any lawyers or friends. I could
only secretly send out text messages (thank God for the Blackberry QWERTY
keypad!). We were all carried into a CAGE without being told where we’d be sent
to, even though we persistently asked.
I only found out upon arrival that we were in PULAPOL – Pusat Latihan Polis
Kuala Lumpur. Quickly, I texted my friends. We were all, however, treated
surprisingly well when we got there. I asked, “Why treat us so politely after
beating us up? What’s the point? Don’t you think it’s pointless?”
They just keep quiet. An hour later, YB Tian Chua arrived, descending from
the bus and comforting everyone, “Jangan takut.” (don’t be afraid). I had to
say, that worked like a charm. We were left unattended at the detention area,
then officers started calling out names one by one – 512 of them altogether –
taking down our particulars. Luckily they heard me out on my explanation for not
having an identification card.
We were left unattended for many hours after, and
it was only at nightfall that they began calling out names again – this time to
take our photos. Most of the persons present were badly injured – most were hit
and beaten badly – including a 71-year-old lady, “Mei Jie” -
click for her press release.
Two tourists were also captured – Jose from Spain and Andy from Austalia. They
were arrested when standing outside their hostel just looking at the rally.
It was only at about 1am or so that the police began releasing people batch
by batch. YB Tian Chua was supposed to leave in one of the early batches, but
instead decided to stay put and wait for everyone to be released first. I was
freed around 3am, and waited on the bus for about half an hour. The bus exited
PULAPOL from the back door – ditching all our friends and family, lawyers, and
press who waited at the front entrance – and dropped us all at Jalan Duta at
about 4am.
We were detained for 11 hours: denied our right to legal representation and
were not told the reasons for our detention.
"THE MORE THEY TRIED TO BREAK US, THE MORE UNITED WE ARE. I MADE MANY FRIENDS DURING THE DETAINED PERIOD. I WALKED OUT BRIMMING WITH COURAGE AND FAITH TO CHANGE"
Regards,
