From: Leo <x_eye@digicron.com> Date: Monday, September 28, 1998 10:22 PM
Cops violently break up demo
Plainclothes agents provoked protestors, say witnesses
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (AFP) - Police arrested the head of a new opposition coalition and dozens of other demonstrators Monday as they violently broke up a demonstration in the Malaysian capital, witnesses said. About 50 riot police and an estimated 200 plain clothes officers beat protestors as dispersed the crowd of around 3,000 people. Police used electric prods on some of those detained, reporters and photographers at the scene said.
One Malay youth was attacked by about 10 baton-wielding police who beat him around the legs and kicked him repeatedly as he lay on the ground.
A police helicopter with search lights hovered over the scene as street lights were turned off along a deserted shopping street. One Japanese department store pulled down its shutters 90 minutes before closing time.
Among those arrested was Tian Chua from the Voice of the Malaysian People rights group, who chairs the Coalition for People's Democracy, said one witness.
The coalition was formed Sunday as the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad faced a growing opposition clamour over the detention of ousted deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.
Witnesses said plain-clothes police mingling with crowd at the latest rally deliberately provoked anti-government demonstrators in Merdeka Square.
Shouting "Allah Akbar" and carrying banners supporting Anwar, some plains clothes agents were seen suddenly turning on other protestors before dragging them off to police vans.
Riot police moved in at dusk and an initial group of at least 10 protesters among those chanting "Mahathir Resign" were arrested.
Several dozen riot police then chased jeering crowds down nearby shopping streets. Roads were sealed off and police urged all people to leave the area as night fell, threatening to use water cannons.
Zainal Abidin Ali, chief of police in the Dang Wangi district, told reporters he could not say how many arrests were made or how many people were taken to hospital.
"See what we are up against. Write the true facts. You have the photos," he told reporters. "Who is bad?. They are bad."
Zainal said those arrested would be charged for "having an unlawful procession and gathering without a licence."
"This is a free country," he said. But "once they become unruly, we will take action. We are not on the aggressive side."
Zainal said there were "no injuries on the police side" during the operation which last more than an hour.
Warnings over police "provocation" were made at a rally of tens of thousands of people in the Islamic stronghold of Gombak on Sunday night.
Ahmad Nor, vice-chairman of the Democratic Action Party, one of three parties to join two opposition coalitions formed Sunday, blamed recent violence on government agents posing as Anwar supporters.
"It was not Anwar supporters who started the disturbances, it was Mahathir's people," he said.
Malaysia's tightly-controlled media have blamed Anwar supporters for vandalising the headquarters of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), hours before Anwar was arrested.
Bernama national news agency meanwhile reported that police detained 13 people including 10 students for an illegal assembly Monday at a mosque in the southern city of Johor Bahru.
Johor Bahru police also detained three women in a car which carried anti-government pamphlets, the news agency said
END