Bersih chief urges end to violence
Maria: Stand up to political intimidation as it has no place in a democratic M’sia
KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah has called for an end to violence against members and supporters of the organisation, and urged the public to stand up to “political intimidation”.
Speaking outside the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman here yesterday, she said that no matter how varied their political differences, no one should be subjected to political intimidation.
“Intimidation and political violence have no place in the formation of a new democratic Malaysia,” she said.
Maria was referring to the recent string of threats made against her family and other Bersih organisers ahead of the Bersih 5 rally scheduled for Nov 19.
“Although these seem like isolated incidents, they are aimed at creating confusion, mistrust and to tarnish Bersih 2.0,” said Maria, who along with members from several NGOs, civil society movements and the Opposition, presented a memorandum to the Inspector-General of Police at Bukit Aman.
The memorandum urged police to investigate the death threats against Maria and Bersih members, including former chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and secretariat member Mandeep Singh, slanderous accusations against Maria and an incident involving an attack on her son’s car.
The memorandum also asked for police protection for Maria and her family.
Speaking at the same event, Ambiga questioned the silence of Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and the IGP over the acts of intimidation against Bersih.
She said Bersih was shocked by the number of threats made against it.
“Why are they (anti-Bersih supporters) so afraid of Bersih. Bersih 4 faced some challenges but not like this,” said Ambiga.
On Tuesday, Maria, her three sons, Ambiga and Mandeep received profanity-filled death threats together with photographs of their faces being superimposed upon images of people being beheaded by the Islamic State.
This was followed by a 2.30am incident yesterday when red paint was splashed on Maria’s son’s car.