Cops probing PM's Bersih coup claims

Police investigations on a purported coup d'état attempt that is linked to the Bersih 3.0 rally last Saturday, said Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar.

According to Bernama, Ismail said this when asked to comment on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's claim on Friday that the rally was aimed at overthrowing the BN federal government.

Based on the report, Ismail did not elaborate on the claim, but asked the public to provide information in order to safeguard the nation's security.

"Several arrests have been made after the photographs of Bersih 3.0 rioters have been published and we also received calls from the public, who provided us information about the incident.

"This is a good sign that Malaysians love peace and don't want the security of the country to be compromised," he told reporters today in Kulim.

On Friday, Najib told a crowd in Gua Musang that the rally organisers intended to take over Dataran Merdeka for at least two or three days to portray a weak government.

“They wanted to make Dataran Merdeka like the Tahrir Square in Egypt,” said Najib.

Agent provocatuers

On claims found on the Internet that there were police personnel placed as agent provocatuers during the rally, Ismail said the claims were unfounded.

"Don't make nonsensical allegations... (netizens) must be responsible. However, all allegations will be investigated," he said.

The Bersih 3.0 rally saw an estimated 100,000 people take the streets of Kuala Lumpur and gathered as close as they could to Dataran Merdeka.

Rally participants were calling for free and fair elections, believing that the Najib administration and Election Commission was not committed to proper electoral reform.

Police have fenced off the field with barbwire, on grounds that it was enforcing a court order barring anyone from entering the compound.

The rally was peaceful and festive throughout until about 3pm when organisers ordered the crowd to disperse.

Some of the protestors managed to breach the police cordon and approached Dataran Merdeka before the were held back by a hail of tear gas canister.

Immediately, the peaceful protest took an ugly turn as police personnel rushed to arrest protestors, often violently, which sparked some instances of retaliation.