Media statement by Lim Guan Eng in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 1^st May 2012: 

All Malaysians should dress in black and pin a yellow ribbon on 3 May 2012 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day 

DAP fully supports and urges all Malaysians to dress in black and pin a yellow ribbon on 3 May 2012 not only to commemorate World Press Freedom day but also stand in solidarity with the reporters and photographers who either beaten, had their cameras taken away or smashed as well as were victimised by police brutality during Bersih 3.0 Rally in Kuala Lumpur.

The public should stand in solidarity with media workers and reporters who became victims of police brutality during the peaceful Bersih 3.0 rally in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday. That the police did indeed beat up members of the media is irrefutable when the Prime Minister himself whispered an apology to the Sun reporter Radzi Razak who was warded to hospital after the beating.

We strongly condemn the ugly scenes last Saturday at the Bersih 3.0 rally where many protesters, including media workers and reporters, were indiscriminately attacked and injured by police officers. Numerous reports have come in about incidents of police brutality, including Sun reporter Radzi Razak who was assaulted by up to 15 police officers, while a Malay Mail photographer was punched by the police and had his camera destroyed. A Malaysiakini reporter was arrested and his camera equipment confiscated. Even reporters from international agency Al-Jazeera were not spared, as they reported being roughed up while they tried to film an officer beating up a protester.

What has our country turned into when even the sacred rule of freedom of the press can be openly, publicly and blatantly violated. In the past, freedom of the press was curtailed secretly and not publicly with the BN imposing self-censorship by the editors. To make matters worse, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein had the audacity to brush the allegations away by claiming that it was Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the police to confiscate camera equipment. However, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar himself has now come out to contradict Hishamuddin by insisting that seizing camera equipment was not part of police SOP.

If the IGP is correct, then Hishamuddin must apologise to every reporter who was assaulted. He must also order an investigation into the misconduct of the police and bring those guilty to justice. There must be no cover up, or he will risk ruining what little reputation is left of the police.

Malaysians have great doubts as to whether a full and proper investigation will be fruitful and action taken against the perpetrators. We are reminded of similar police inaction in an incident at the First Penang Bridge on July last year when again pro-UMNO demonstrators disrupted traffic flow and beat up 2 reporters. To-date no one was arrested.

The second more serious accident happened again in an anti-Lynas rally in the Speaker's Corner in Esplanade in Penang on 26 February, UMNO and Perkasa members behaved like thugs, violently attacking and injuring 2 reporters during an anti-Lynas rally. One of the reporters had to endure 8 stitches to close his injury.

The policemen present just stood by and did not act to stop or arrest those involved in the barbaric attacks of UMNO and Perkasa members attacking peaceful anti-Lynas demonstrators and physically force the anti-Lynas demonstrators to leave. Up to now not a single person has been either arrested or charged by Penang police.

If UMNO and Perkasa ordinary thugs can get away with assaulting reporters in Penang, with no action taken to date despite plenty of photo and video evidence, can we really expect any justice when it is the police themselves perpetrating the act this time? Only an independent inquiry comprising international experts can trusted with providing a credible report on how to apportion blame to the police so that we can find out the truth of what happened.

*Lim Guan Eng, DAP Secretary General & MP for Bagan