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Ambiga, top leaders arrested; Anwar injured
Malaysiakini - Sat, Jul 9, 2011Bersih 2.0 hails rally as a success
Malaysiakini - Sat, Jul 9, 2011KL blockade: Mass arrests, organisers slip into city
Malaysiakini - Sat, Jul 9, 2011
By Shannon Teoh
KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — Bersih chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan was released by police at 6.30 this evening and declared that Malaysians have shown courage in the face of government intimidation.
She said the “amazing” turnout was a sign that “we do not want to be bullied anymore. Rough intimidation does not work anymore.”
The former Bar Council president also said Bersih has become more than just an electoral reform movement and now represents the public’s wish for a mature democratic process.
“I would not say it is mission accomplished because Bersih is not just about electoral reforms anymore. The public is now aware of abuses and acts of intimidation,” she said.
Ambiga (picture) was arrested by police as she and several Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders attempted to march towards Stadium Merdeka from the Kuala Lumpur Hilton this afternoon.
Police earlier also fired tear gas at the group as they tried to force their way past a police barricade.
She said that police had fired at the group from both the front and back as they were in a tunnel, trapping the group in thickening billows of gas. “It was completely unnecessary, there was no need to stop us that way,” she said.
The government had declared the movement illegal less than 10 days before today’s march. It also told the coalition of 62 NGOs on Thursday to move its gathering outside Kuala Lumpur despite Bersih already accepting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s offer to move its street rally to a stadium.
Bersih 2.0 leaders led by national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said had claimed that 50,000 people turned out in support of their movement despite being unable to hand their memorandum to set up a royal commission to look into electoral reform to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Ambiga told reporters after her released that pursuing the royal commission would be the movement’s next step and it would demand that the Najib administration do so before calling a general election.
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