Police have dismantled some barriers around the stadium although some 500 people remain in the area. City police also said more than 600 people have been arrested throughout the day in various parts of the capital city.
The crowd at the stadium were led by national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said and PAS vice-president Datuk Husam Musa. The white-bearded poet was among the Bersih 2.0 leaders caught in a police cordon at KL Sentral earlier.
In a news conference at the Hilton Hotel earlier, Samad said the country’s literary group must speak out against state-sanctioned power abuses.
PAS leader Datuk Husam Musa arrived shortly after, leading another small group past the police and into Stadium Merdeka area.
There, the police are warning the growing number of demonstrators to disperse, failing which the police will resort to force.
Police earlier fired from their water cannons in the direction of hundreds of pro-Bersih 2.0 demonstrators at Stadium Merdeka even as their top leaders have been cut off or arrested at Kl Sentral.
The shot was a warning; none of the water has hit any of the demonstrators.
The gesture angers a person from Bersih’s side, prompting him to jump up and yell angrily. But his words are drowned off by the sea of noise.
Other pro-Bersih supporters try to calm him down.
Those inside the stadium appear to be quieting down as the afternoon drags on, but they continue to cheer each time a new group of demonstrators makes it past the police barricades and into compound.
Hampered by the downpour that started close to 2pm and police barricades circling Stadium Merdeka, supporters for electoral reforms have struggled to get inside.
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