Why was Lokman beaten, punched and kicked?

Aliran is appalled at the harsh treatment meted out at the peaceful assembly of some 200 Malaysians who gathered outside court today to follow the trial of those who had been charged for illegal assembly previously.

By all accounts, it was a peaceful, orderly gathering. Those present were merely chanting and distributing leaflets. Their actions did not disrupt the normal routine of city dwellers, nor were there any reports of unruly behaviour from those present. What they did was within their legitimate rights as citizens in a democracy - rights that are acknowledged by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has been accepted by all civilised nations.

We are particularly shocked by the reports of five plainclothes men - agent provocateurs? - beating and punching Lokman Noor Adam; at one point, he was reportedly lying in the middle of the road and being kicked amidst busy flow of traffic. Lokman was later detained by the police. Is there a need to brutally assault and detain those peacefully exercising their democratic rights? From experience, public gatherings such as these tend to be peaceful until the police intervene or until they are disrupted by agent provocateurs.

According to reports, those detained were:

• Lokman Noor Adam, keADILan youth exco member,
• N Gopalakrishnan, keADILan youth exco member
• A young man identified only as Munawar,
• An activist, Munasufian,
• Norazimah Mohd Noor,
• Zainab Rahmah, and
• A woman identified only as Rahimah

Aliran is gravely disturbed that there is an increasing perception that the police, who are supposed to be the keepers of the peace, are now being seen as perpetrators of violence. To salvage the image and credibility of the police, we call upon the Inspector General of Police to take stern action against those responsible for assaulting Lokman in full public view.

It is most unfortunate that the police have chosen to ignore the wise counsel of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) that they should be people-friendly and non-confrontational. If they had only heeded its advice, the arrests and brutality would have been avoided. The Home Minister cannot be absolved of responsibility for today's events. He should have ensured that the police act with restraint at all times.

Aliran calls upon the police to immediately and unconditionally release those detained. We also call on the authorities to drop all charges of illegal assembly levelled earlier against some 30 other Malaysians.