Haniff should be a star witness NOT panel's chairperson...

It was a sea of raised hands yesterday when DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang asked an audience of at least 2,000 people at the Subang Jaya 3C complex “who opposed the appointment of Hanif Omar” as chairperson of the investigative panel on police brutality during Bersih 3.0.

Asked why, some of those present at the second stop of PKR's post-Bersih nationwide tour Merdeka Rakyat, yelled out “because we cannot trust him”.

“Why can’t we trust him?... After what he has said he should in fact be the star witness of the inquiry and not the chairperson,” the Ipoh Timor MP said.
 
Most of the audience had also raised their hands when asked if they had participated in the April 28 Bersih 3.0 rally.

According to Lim, the former police chief should not be on the panel because he had made prejudicial statements against the rally, including agreeing with suggestions that it was a coup attempt.

“I have nothing personal against Hanif. I don't want to cast aspersions against his integrity but he should spare himself.

“Never in Malaysian history has an appointment of a panel chairperson been automatically rejected (by the masses),” he said.

The communist joke

Like the coup d’etat statement, a mere mention by PAS’ Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad that Hanif said that he feared communist insurgents were behind Bersih 3.0 had the audience in giggles.

Winning more laughter was PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim (left), who related how two Malaysians on board his flight back from Bahrain yesterday asked him about Hanif’s communist remark.

“One of them was 29, the other 32. This communist story is from the 1950s, 1960s. Hanif retired (as inspector-general of police) a long time ago.

“He forgot that he fought communists in the 1960s. Hey, Hanif, that fight is over. The communists are now your friends. Communist Party (of China) representatives were present during the Umno assembly,” he said.

He added that Hanif should not accept the post of panel chairperson as “he knows he is not independent” after making such a statement against Bersih 3.0.

“We also ask for the other panel members to step down voluntarily to so the panel  is not subject to mockery,” he said.

Assault at mosque steps

Besides speeches on Bersih 3.0 and electoral reform, the audience was also shown what appeared to be eyewitness videos of the April 28 rally.

They included videos depicting police brutality, including one which showed yellow-shirted men being dragged out of a mosque and assaulted at the mosque steps during the azan.

The video, which appeared to be shot from the second floor of Masjid India, near Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, also recorded people yelling out “Ingat Tuhan!” (Remember God).

According to emcee and Seri Setia assemblyperson Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, donations for the PKR election fund that night amounted to RM11,000.-malaysiakini

Bersih rejects 'powerless' Hanif panel

Bersih’s steering committee has rejected the “so-called independent panel” to investigate incidences of violence at the rally on April 28, as “powerless”.

This is because the government has not given any indication of which laws are to regulate the establishment and functioning of this panel, said the committee in a statement today.
It also questions claims of impartiality, arguing that panel chairperson Hanif Omar had made prejudicial statements against Bersih before, while panellist Mohammad Medan Abdullah is from government-linked Petronas.

Bersih said the panel would be better served by United Nations rapporteur Frank La Rue, who had offered to probe the matter, and his colleague Maina Kiai, as well as the National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).

It calls on Suhakam to also have a proper inquiry into claims of police brutality during the April 28 rally, as it did for the Bersih 2.0 rally last year.-malaysiakini
 
Hanif ada bukti Bersih 3.0 mahu guling kerajaan?

Siapa tak sokong Hanif angkat tangan

Ribuan mengangkat tangan tanda menentang pelantikan Tun Hanif Omar sebagai pengerusi panel siasatan berhubung dakwaan kekasaran polis dalam perhimpunan BERSIH 3.0.

Dalam ceramah di Subang Jaya malam tadi, kira-kira 2,000 orang berbuat demikian selepas ketua anggota parlimen DAP Lim Kit Siang menyoal siapa yang menentang pelantikan bekas ketua polis negara itu.

Ditanya kenapa mereka hadir dalam program jelajah PKR di seluruh negara pasca-BERSIH, mereka menjawab kerana tidak percaya pada Hanif.

Lim berkata, selepas apa diucapkannya sebelum ini, Hanif sepatutnya menjadi saksi dan bukannya pengerusi panel siasatan itu.- malaysiakini

Komunis hadir BERSIH 'komunis baik'

Jika benar terdapat komunis yang menyertai perhimpunan menuntut pilihan raya bersih dan adil pada 28 April lalu, mereka penganut fahaman itu yang baik, kata ahli jawatankuasa pemandu BERSIH Hishamuddin Rais.

"Kalau kata ramai yang datang masa BERSIH ialah komunis. Ok lah itu. Sebab mereka komunis yang baik. Sebab mereka tentang penipuan yang dibuat oleh SPR (Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya).

"Perjuangan komunis akan menjadi perjuangan yang suci," katanya ketika dihubungi Malaysiakini. Sebelum ini, bekas ketua polis negara Tun Hanif Omar mengatakan, perhimpunan "duduk bantah" itu didalangi oleh pihak yang menyebarkan ideologi komunis dan aktif sebagai peserta demonstrasi sekitar 1970-an.

Walaupun Hanif tidak menamakan sesiapa tetapi kenyataan itu dipercayai jelas merujuk kepada Hishamuddin yang terlibat dalam aktivisme pelajar sekitar 70-an dan memainkan peranan penting pada perhimpunan itu.- malaysiakini

cheers.