Scores of PR and Bersih activists were arrested, including PKR’s Chua Tian Chang and Bersih leader Maria Chin Abdullah.
Shielded by scores of supporters, all linking arms, the movement fighting for electoral reform left the KL Hilton hotel about 2pm today and made their way down three flights of stairs and headed towards KL Sentral across the road.
The group, shouting “Hidup rakyat!” and “Bersih! Bersih! Bersih!” interspersed with PAS’s Islamic battlecry “Allahu Akhbar!” and “Takbir!”, pushed past a barricade of police personnel who formed three lines to block the station’s sole entrance fronting the hotel.
Shopkeepers in the transportation hub quickly moved to shutter their businesses as the massive wave surged towards them. But drawn by the noise, scores of curious onlookers moved forward.
At the Bangsar LRT station, a policeman on duty told would-be passengers that the KL Sentral LRT stop is now closed and no one will be allowed to embark or disembark there.
Earlier, at Anwar’s suite at the Hilton, Ambiga told reporters Bersih 2.0 had already achieved more than its initial goal.
“We are [now] raising awareness in the public not only of electoral reform but the abuse of power... it’s now up to them to give [us] a democracy that really works,” she said.
She also said she anticipated being arrested by the police waiting outside the hotel but would continue the walk to join up with thousands more demonstrators already assembled at Stadium Merdeka.
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