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May Day gathering terrorised by police
Suaram Press Release - May 1, 2002
What was to be a peaceful gathering of workers at Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC Twin Towers) turned into May Day mayhem when police arrested 18 people, including an eight-year old boy.
The annual May Day gathering of progressive workers and supporters came to a startling halt when police officers from the Dang Wangi district assaulted leaders and workers halfway through their peace walk.
An estimated 150 people started their May Day peace walk from Chow Kit at 10:00 am towards the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC Twin Towers) for their gathering. After walking for 1.5 km, they were confronted by a group of police officers who charged the crowd without warning or provocation.
Officer in Charge of Police District (Dang Wangi) OCPD Bakri Zinin led the attacks, personally shoving and assaulting negotiators at the front. Many workers were hurt when police officers grabbed banners, clothes and leaflets. Police initially refused to let workers to get onto buses parked nearby. An hour later, busese were allowed to ferry the workers but negotiators were arrested by the police while trying to help people onto the buses.
As of 12:30 pm, 18 people were arrested from several areas Medan Dang Wangi and KLCC. One of them was an 8-year old boy was reported to have been arrested for wearing a headscarf with the slogan, "Return the Rights of Workers".
S. Arutchelvan, one of the organisers arrested this morning said, "May Day is a day of solidarity for workers, recognised even by the state. The police's actions mocks fundamental rights of workers to assemble peacefully."
The theme of this year's May Day is "Return the Rights of Workers for Wages, Work and Union". Among the key demands called by 50 organisations were minimum wages, land rights for farmers and indigenous peoples, the right to unionise, workers welfare and an end to racial discrimination.
The groups also called for a stop to the use of the Employees Pension Fund to bailout crony companies and a transparent, credible and responsible government.
For more information, please contact: S. Arutchelvan 019-2537791, Letchmi 019-2334601, K. Simon 012-3272589
Persons arrested (as of 12:00 pm, 1 May)
Arrested near Sheraton Kuala Lumpur | Held at Campbell Police Station, Kuala Lumpur:
1 S. Arutchelvan (Coordinator
SUARAM)
2. Dr. Nasir Hashim (President,
protem Parti Sosialis Malaysia)
3. V. Selvam (central committee,
protem Parti Sosialis Malaysia; Indah Water Union executive secretary)
4. Sivamani Subramaniam
(Plantation Workers Support Committee)
5. Sevan Doraisamy (Plantation
Workers Support Committee)
6. Vankat Rao Naidu (Plantation
Workers Support Committee)
7. Eswaran Sengalrayan (Plantation
Workers Support Committee)
8. Ravi Chandran Muniandy
(Plantation Workers Support Committee)
9. Shaharuddin Adnan (video
documentator, WIMTECH)
10. Abdul Rahman Abdul Aziz
(pedestrian)
Arrested near Sheraton Kuala Lumpur | Held at Campbell Police Station, Kuala Lumpur:
11. Mohanarani (Alaigal)
- (* women)
12. Lee Siew Hwa (WIMTECH)
- (* women)
13. Choo Shin Chei (member,
SUARAM JB)
14. K. Ramasamy (Chairperson,
Subang branch, protem Parti Sosialis Malaysia)
Arrested at KLCC | Whereabouts not known:
15. Dr. Kumar Devaraj (Alaigal)
16. Nathan (Alaigal)
17. A. Devidran (Chairperson,
Livestock committee Bukit Tinggi Estate)
18. 8-year old boy, name
not known.
For more information isit
Suaram at http://www.suaram.org/home.htm.
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