Cat and mouse game takes over

Teoh El Sen and Stephanie Sta Maria | April 28, 2012

Four busloads of protesters arrested and taken out of the Dataran Merdeka area to the police training college at Jalan Semarak.

KUALA LUMPUR: While majority of the 80,000 who joined the Bersih 3.0 rally have dispersed, some 5,000 supporters of the gathering are still playing a cat and mouse game with the police around Masjid Jamek and Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman near the Sogo shopping complex.

Ground reports said these 5,000 were still trying to get into the Dataran Merdeka area, despite the historic site being taken over by the police.

However, these rally supporters are expected to disperse in stages soon.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim just a few minutes ago in his twitter message urged the Bersih demonstrators to disperse.

“Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders and I have left the gathering. I urge all those who joined us to disperse,” he said in his Twitter message.

Ground reports also stated that four buses filled with arrested demonstrators were taken out of the Dataran Merdeka area to the police training college (Pulapol) at Jalan Semarak.

It is also learnt that the Batu member of parliament Tian Chua was arrested near Dataran Merdeka.

The Kuala Lumpur police have scheduled a press conference soon. The press meeting would reveal the number of arrests.

Police under attack

Earlier pandemonium erupted along Jalan Raja Laut as defiant protesters armed with planks and water bottles charged at the police.

Both the police and the protesters also erected barricades near the closed LRT station, with the former using piles of rubbish and discarded planks.

After firing tear gas and water cannons, the police had initially moved in to dismantle the make-shift barricade when a group of protesters started taunting them.

They then rallied the others who had dispersed when the police swung into action not to be afraid and to stand their ground.

A group of protesters then picked up discarded water bottles and planks, and charged at the police, who retreated.

The police fired tear gas and water cannons when protesters broke through the barbed-wire barriers erected at Dataran Merdeka.

The incident happened despite Bersih chairperson S Ambiga’s advise not to breach the barriers.

Near the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) building, police arrested those clad in yellow t-shirts but the protesters refused to back down.

A protester was also injured in the face when he was hit by a tear gas canister.

The organisers had asked participants to disperse, saying that the gathering had made its point.

However, the crowd was adamant in not wanting to disperse and started to chant “Buka Pagar” (open the barricade) aimed at the police.

As Ambiga was addressing the crowd and asking them to disperse, chants of “Reformasi” rang out and soon after Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim took the podium to wave and acknowledge the crowd.

In reaction, the crowd started chanting “Buka Pagar” again.

The police had obtained a court order restraining Ambiga, the Bersih organisers and the public from entering Dataran Merdeka for four days starting Friday.

Earlier, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali in his speech whipped up the crowd sentiment teasing the participants asking them if they wanted to go into Dataran Merdeka.

The crowd shouted back in unison that they wanted to do so.

“Dataran belongs to the rakyat…you can always take it back,” Azmin replied.

Tension continues

The police also fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters who gathered along Jalan Pudu.

Whereas in Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, more than 300 Bersih and PAS supporters faced off with the FRU and police near the Coliseum restaurant.

The protesters shouted insults such as “Anjing rasuah” and “Buka helmet dan cukur misai, pondan.” They had on occasion tossed back tear gas canisters fired at them.

Despite the tear gas, the protesters kept re-grouping.

Some protesters also claimed that the police had not allowed them to leave the city centre.

“We are being chased all over and beaten up.” But opposite the Sogo shopping complex, the police were being chased by the protesters at one point.

Police have also pushed the crowd back from Dataran to Masjid Jamek with tear gas and water cannon. Protesters were also seen throwing bottles at police in anger.