Police Attack of Citizens Singing National Anthem Contempt of Nation and King

We the undersigned civil society groups express our strongest condemnation on the brutal attack by policemen on 100-strong Malaysians singing the national anthem last night in the BERSIH peaceful gathering in Civic Centre Petaling Jaya. It is not only an outright human rights violation, but also an outrageous contempt of the Nation and the King.

We urge Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Syed Albar to immediately apologize and Selangor Chief Police Officer Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar to resign or be transferred over the matter. We call on all Malaysians to unite, regardless of our political persuasion, to unite in defending the national symbol and human rights.

We stress that, first and foremost, it is Malaysians' birth right to peacefully assemble, enshrined in the Article 10 of the Federal Constitution. Police dispersion of members of public gathering peacefully is contempt of the Constitution. The police has therefore acted unconstitutionally in dispersing the gathering to commemorate the 1st anniversary of November 10 BERSIH rally and to demand for abolition of ISA.

We are further deeply appalled by the unusual manner of police dispersing citizens in peaceful gathering. Usually, the police officer would demand the crowd to disperse within five minutes before taking any action. While Malaysians are taught from young to stand still when the national anthem is sung, the police acted as if they had so much contempt for Negaraku that the singing must be stopped and the singers punished.

We express our grave concern on the excessive force used. A 53-year-old woman Dian Abdullah was attacked from the back by a few policemen caused her to fall and injured the back of her head. She was left bleeding and was only hospitalized to have four stitches by a by-stander. Petaling Jaya parliamentarian Tony Pua and Kampung Tunku state assemblyperson Lau Weng San were also manhandled and punched.

Ironically, some were assaulted by the members of Malaysian Royal Police (PDRM) when they were singing "Raja Kita (Selamat Bertakhta) [May Our King (reigns in peace)]. The 1109 police attack on the citizens, the nation and the monarchy has just proved the dire need to have the Independent Police Misconduct and Complaint Commission (IPCMC) established.

The undersigned Organizations:

1. Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH)

2. Writer Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)