Three nabbed over assault on journalists

> Trio caught on video harassing reporters covering Bersih 5.0

KUALA SELANGOR: Police have arrested three men who were caught on video allegedly assaulting journalists who covered a Bersih 5.0 convoy outside a hypermarket here.

Kuala Selangor district police chief Supt Ruslan Abdullah told theSun the three suspects were detained after a journalist lodged a police report at 6pm on Saturday here.

“After viewing the video, investigators identified three individuals and detained them immediately,” he said.

Ruslan said according to the report, the journalist and her colleague were harassed by a group of men on motorcycles.

The three suspects, he said, were detained under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation and Section 105 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

He said a follow-up investigation is underway and police will initiate action on those found responsible for inciting violence.

A video of the incident, believed to have been captured by one of the reporters, had gone viral on social media since Saturday evening.

Ruslan said police have also received a report that a group of individuals, believed to be participants of the Bersih 5.0 convoy, were distributing seditious flyers at the hypermarket entrance.

He said the incident took place on the same day, before the journalists were assaulted.

“We have opened an investigation paper under Section 4(1)(c) Sedition Act 1948 for distributing flyers that are seditious,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists has condemned the harassment of journalists and urged police to take necessary action. The union will also lodge a police report against the antiBersih group.

Meanwhile in KUALA LUMPUR, Umno secretarygeneral Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said Umno is not involved with the individuals who allegedly assaulted the journalists.

He reminded people not to take the law into their own hands and abide by existing laws in the country.