Netizens bash ‘baton-happy cop’

A Facebook picture posting of a "cop" allegedly celebrating assaulting several protesters during the Bersih 3.0 protest enrage netizens, with some even calling for his death. 

PETALING JAYA: A Facebook picture, which shows comments from a policeman allegedly celebrating his assault on several Bersih 3.0 protesters, has been making the rounds on the social network website.

It has so far received a response of 2,706 shares, 228 comments and 553 “likes”. The majority of them were negative, with some even blatantly calling for his death, though some remained skeptical over the authenticity of the posting.

The posting, which was uploaded by Facebook user “Bersih 3.0 picture and video” a few days ago, contained two photographs of several men. In both the photographs, one individual, believed to be said policeman, was circled in red.

The “policeman”, who uses the handle “Faizal Bch”, had wrote in the comments section, in colloquial Malay, that he was present during “Ops Bersih”. He also admitted to a friend “Rambo Sufi” that he had “shattered the skulls” of five or six people with a “T-Baton”.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we had Bersih every year?” he wrote.

Another contentious message from “Faizal Bch” was his mention of the Dang Wangi district police chief, who he wrote had “ordered” to “finish it all”. This, according to the readers, appeared to indicate that there might have been an order to assault protesters.

Parts of the conversation are reproduced below:

Faizal Bch: “gi ops bersih jumpa suhardi… pehhh hebat kawan kita sorang tu”(went to Ops Bersih and met Suhardi… that’s one great guy, that friend of ours)

Rambo Sufi:“pa cita o? ang hantam orang banyak tak?(What’s the story? Did you beat up lots of people?)
Faizal Bch: “ada lah, 5, 6, orang pecah kepala, pakai t baton je tibai diorang… kalau tiap2 tahun ada bersih kan best” (Yeah, five, six, of them with heads broken in, just used the T-baton to beat all of them… Wouldn’t it be great if we had Bersih every year)

To a question asking where he was stationed, Faizal Bch replied :”Aku duk kt kawasan bangunan DBKL jalan sampai pertama kompleks… yang last kt depan dataran… ocpd dang wangi arahkan selesaikan semua… kan banyak ambulan dah sampai. (I was at the DBKL building area, walked all the way to Pertama Kompleks… ended up in front of Dataran Merdeka. OCPD of Dang Wangi ordered to ‘finish it all’ … didn’t you see there were lots of ambulances which had already arrived)

The creator of the Facebook post accused that police felt that it was “fun” beating up the public. It was also noted that the policeman had changed his handle to “Luke Wright”.

Netizens see red

Several attempts by FMT to obtain a response from the authorities failed. Phone calls and a SMS to Dang Wangi police chief ACP Mohamed Zulkarnian Abdul Rahman went unanswered.

Of the responses received over the link, many were angry with the “policeman”. One “Jasper Jaska Lim” wrote:”imma find you and slit your throat son mark my words” and one Victorsaurus Sp wrote:”wish he die with torment soon”.

Another, KS Chen wrote: “No offence to the “Polis Diraja Malaysia” bu in my opinion, ‘Majority’ of these police officers in Malaysia are thugs & hooligans with primitive mind sets based on my experiences.”

However, some were skeptical over the posting, with one “Akim ‘Kopi’ TY” saying:” ‘all talk this & that… have you made a police report regarding this? Please… I also want to know the truth – if you have made a police report of this matter, scan the report and put it up here, later then follow up on action taken.

[Complaining] won’t solve anything as Bersih side also ditched a directive from the court of law pertaining [to the] ban on entering Dataran Merdeka. Just so you know, facts shall go with action. Facts with all that talk… you’re just in the same mentality league as those ‘hooligans’ you’re referring to, and that’s not someone the rakyat can trust.”
 
Another, Hadi Deen, said: “Not enough proof. How do we know, Faizal is the guy in the photo. For all we know, Its just some random guy. So, lets be civilized about this. Dont go shoot a gun at a voice you hear in the dark. Be smart people, be an instrument. Not a tool.”

This link and photo is just one of the many “evidences” that have cropped up in the aftermath of the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28, which saw an estimated 80,000 people throng the streets of Kuala Lumpur.
The rally was marred by violence involving both police personnel and protesters.

The chaos following an otherwise peaceful rally was sparked off after a group of protesters breached police barricades in front of Dataran Merdeka. Police fired tear gas and chemical-laced water into the crowds. They also arrested hundreds.

At least 13 journalists, photographers and videographers were attacked during the rally, and police also said some 13 of their own men were injured.

So far, two persons have been charged over Bersih 3.0, one was lawyer GN Rajesh Kumar while the other was PKR Rasah deputy division head R Tangam.

The credibility of these “evidences” remain uncertain as the amount of allegations, videos and photos that are being released seem to outpace the police responses.

Police have recently given an ultimatum for the 141 who have been identified and shown in a list of photographs as suspects to surrender themselves.

Meanwhile, netizens have also embarked on their own initiatives to identify policemen who allegedly assaulted protesters and pressmen.

In one incident, four photos of “wanted” policemen were even posted in Facebook. They were said to be the personnel who attacked Huang An Jian, a photographer with Chinese newspaper Guang Ming Daily.