KUALA LUMPUR: A video was presented at the Suhakam public inquiry into the alleged excessive use of police force at the disputed Bandar Mahkota Cheras barricade on May 27.
It showed up to 30 Federal Reserve Unit and plainclothes police personnel surrounding and striking a vehicle.
Captured by online news portal cameraman Ng Kok Foong, the video depicted police personnel shouting and shoving the black Wira while bystanders shouted for them to stop.
At one point of the 30-minute video presented to the inquiry, one FRU officer was clearly seen striking downward with his riot shield.
Lai Wai Chong and Chong Yuan Chun, the eighth and ninth witnesses on the second day of the inquiry on Thursday, said they saw a lone FRU officer hit the driver Chang Jiun Hiur with his shield as he was trying to get up after being beaten.
They said they recognised the FRU officer because of his good looks.
The end of the video also showed Chang, 23, lying shirtless on a gurney with his nose bandaged and blood splattered on his body and shorts.
Ng, who was the eleventh witness, said he went to the Kajang Hospital with his colleagues to visit Chang at about midnight after the incident. He said Chang was conscious but did not reply to any of their questions.
All five of the witnesses who testified on Thursday said the Wira had accelerated quickly before stopping behind another car at the apex of the U-turn near the barricade.
The FRU and plainclothes officers then proceeded to surround the vehicle.
The twelfth witness Syed Jaymal Zahiid Syed Kamal, a journalist, recounted how the four occupants of the vehicle were forced out of the vehicle.
"I was behind the FRU line. They started hitting the car and shouted for them to get out," he said.
He added that the driver's window had been shattered and they had been punching the driver through the open window.
He said three officers then dragged out one of the rear passengers who was crying and telling them to stop beating him.
"Next, they dragged the driver out. He was already bleeding," he said, adding that the officers dragged him out, sat him down and continued to beat him.
The last two to be forced out were a male and female who were not handled as roughly as the first two.
According to Syed Jaymal, he asked one of the officers what happened after the incident.
"The officer said the driver had run down one of their men and was acting aggressively. So we acted aggressively as well. He asked for it," he said.
When Syed Jaymal asked the officer for evidence of his man getting run down, there was at first no reply.
It was only when another officer announced it was a reporter asking the question that one officer stepped out from the crowd to show Syed Jaymal a broken baton and a torn knee-pad.
When asked by one of the Suhakam council members whether he could recognise any of the officers he spoke to, Syed Jaymal replied that he would not be able to.
"At that time, they all looked the same," he said.
LESTER KONG
Star Online
24/07/08
PEOPLE'S POWER
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