Mat Sabu - cop car hit me...

PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu today took the stand at a public inquiry on the Bersih 2.0 rally, describing his accident with a police vehicle resulting in a leg injury that required surgery.

Addressing the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) panel today, Mohamad insisted that he was hit by a patrol car along Jalan Travers, near KL Sentral.

"I was riding pillion on the motorcycle which was heading downhill. The police patrol car, which came from the opposite direction, was on the wrong side of the road. It stopped (suddenly).

"My knee hit the front lamp of the Proton Waja resulting in the injury," said Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu. He said he was leaving the Mandarin Court Hotel and did not know that he was being tailed by the police.

Describing the incident in detail, Mat Sabu said two Proton Waja cars and a police vehicle then came from the opposite direction. Then one Waja swerved to block his path, resulting in his motorcycle rider also turning to avoid a collision.

"In swerving, the car hit the motorcycle and my knee. I fell flat on the ground. I could not stand up and the police quickly arrested me," he said.

Asked by Suhakam commissioner Mahmood Zuhdi Ab Majid (left) whether the motorcycle had hit the police car or it was the other way round, the politician replied it was difficult to say as they were travelling downhill but the police car went over to their side of the road.

"It is difficult to answer the question as it is a matter of interpretation. But we did collide and I fell," he said, denying his knee injury was a result of the fall.

Following a public outcry over their handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 and claims of abuse, the police scrambled to deny the allegation that one of their vehicles had hit the motorcycle.

Federal Public Order and Internal Security Department director Salleh Rashid claimed there was no truth to this. Salleh said that CCTV footage showed that the motorcyclist had hit a road divider and that Mat Sabu had fallen off.

While the video does not show the motorcycle being struck, it does include a segment where a police 4WD vehicle chases two motorcycles, with the PAS politician riding pillion on one.

From HKL to lock-up

Mat Sabu also told the inquiry that after he was arrested, he was brought to the Jinjang police station where he was referred to a doctor who cleaned up his wound.

The doctor, he said ordered the police to take him to the Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) due to the extent of his injury. "At HKL they took an X-ray and injected painkillers. The doctors claimed my ligament was damaged and they asked me to return two weeks later," he said.

"However, instead of being released, I was taken back to the Jinjang police station. There, I was placed in the lock-up. I told the police officers that I needed someone to assist me as I was not mobile. However, the police did not allocate an officer to me."

Mat Sabu said the police did assist him whenever he wanted to perform his ablutions and prayers. However he said he was not satisfied with them as he was placed in the lock-up upon returning from HKL despite being in severe pain.

Mat Sabu said he was released later that night after the police had recorded a statement from him. He added that he went to a private hospital where the specialist diagnosed that he was suffering from ligament damage and a fracture.

"The doctors operated on me on July 15," he said, adding the injury had caused him a lot of discomfort.

No notice served

Replying to questions from Malaysian Bar constitutional committee chairperson Syahredzan Johan, Mat Sabu said he did not carry any weapon to the Bersih 2.0 rally and in fact never carried a weapon.

Mat Sabu also dismissed suggestions that his motorcycle was in the way of the police cars or that the cars were evading some obstacles in front.

The PAS deputy president when questioned by police officer ACP Jamaluddin Abdul Rahman, denied he received a court order barring him and 90 others from entering Kuala Lumpur.

"I have heard about it in papers but I did not receive any notice. Anyway my office (the PAS headquarters) is in KL and I also have an office here," he said.

Mat Sabu bertegas dia dilanggar kereta polis

source:malaysiakini

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