KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih 2.0 says Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s claim that there is evidence to support their chairman’s arrest under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, or Sosma, is outrageous and baseless, and have challenged him to reveal the purported evidence to the public for evaluation.
In a statement, the movement said Khalid’s claim that ‘incriminating’ documents were discovered during the raid on Bersih’s office is outrageous, as they are fully aware of what had been taken.
“It is absurd to suggest that documents belonging to us could be linked to a threat to security.
“Bersih 2.0 was given a copy of the “Senarai Pemeriksaan” (inspection list), which details the items seized, and which clearly shows that there was no such evidence,” the statement by Bersih 2.0’s steering committee members said.
Police arrested Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah at their office in Petaling Jaya on Friday, on the eve of the Bersih 5 rally in Kuala Lumpur.
Earlier that day, a raid was conducted by the Kuala Lumpur police raiding team on Bersih’s headquarters under Section 124 (C) of the Penal Code for “committing activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy.”
It was reported that after scouring the office for about two hours, the raiding team confiscated 10 laptops, payroll and bank statements.
The statement said Bersih 2.0 is an organisation dedicated to electoral reforms and good governance, adding that the allegations by the IGP are baseless slander upon Bersih and millions of Malaysians who support it.
“Since the IGP claims there is such evidence, we hereby challenge the IGP to produce the so-called evidence.
“Let the public evaluate the evidence themselves. Does he dare?” they said.
The IGP yesterday claimed that there is enough evidence to arrest Maria under Sosma, and that her arrest is not related to the Bersih 5 rally, the organisation said.
However, after almost six days since her arrest on Nov 18, the organisation says it was the first time they were hearing that the arrest had nothing to do with the Bersih 5 rally.
This, they said, was a complete about-turn by the authorities and government leaders, who, until now, had given the impression that Maria had threatened national security by organising the Bersih 5 rally.