UMNOPORNO and Najib slaves ...
Police have denied meeting telecommunications companies to limit internet access, especially to social media such as Facebook and Twitter ahead of Saturday’s Bersih rally.
Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said that the rumour was spread by irresponsible people who have “certain motives to discredit the police.”
“I will take action against people who make up this kind of stories and haul them to court,” the police chief told reporters today.
Rumours of blockages or outages in internet access had begun to circulate last night.
“Reliable source: Bakri from Bt Aman called meeting of telcos to disrupt social network on 8/9 July,” PKR communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad had posted on Twitter last night, referring to the federal criminal investigations chief Datuk Mohd Bakri Zinin.
Mohd Bakri had refused to comment on the allegation when contacted by The Malaysian Insider this morning.
Bersih supporters, especially those gathered by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) are expected to use online channels to mobilise themselves in the face of likely police intervention.
Ismail reiterated today that any Bersih-related activity leading up to and including the rally will be deemed unlawful as the organisation was declared illegal last week.
A government clampdown over the past week that saw hundreds of Bersih supporters arrested only resulted in defiance from the electoral reform movement and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders, who have strongly backed the march as it seeks to build momentum ahead of a general election expected within the year.
The opposition coalition continue to insist that up to 300,000 will attend the rally, despite Bersih accepting a government offer to move the July 9 street march to a stadium.
The offer from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Monday came after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong stepped in to diffuse tension on Sunday by asking the government and Bersih to come to the negotiation table.
Despite Bersih’s acceptance of Najib’s offer, authorities are still insisting that the coalition of 62 NGOs apply for a police permit to hold its event.
This is the second such rally organised by Bersih with the first in 2007 seeing an estimated 50,000 people take to the streets in the capital city before they were dispersed by riot police armed with water cannons and tear gas.
The event has been partly credited for PR’s record gains in Election 2008 when the opposition pact was swept to power in five states and won 82 parliamentary seats.
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If allowed to march to Istana, Bersih's procession will only paralyze some part of kl's traffic flow. Now the police has come up with a solution that will paralyze the entire city. Ambiga is not a dangerous person. She is only a woman. Why are the police and BN government so scared of her? Just let her and her supporters gather peacefully. It is only a matter of two hours. If it is unbearable consider it a puff of wind. But the problem is that BN cannot bring itself to see the need for fair election. The actions of BN and police have simply left their reputation in tatters. They have sunk so low in the eyes of any thinking Malaysian.
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