MALAYSIA
URGENT APPEAL : 5TH. NOVEMBER 2000 6.45pm

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MASSIVE POLICE REPRESSION
MORE THAN 40 PEOPLE ARRESTED
UNCONFIRMED REPORTS OF DETAINEES TEAR-GASSED INSIDE POLICE TRUCK
DOZENS OF DEMONSTRATORS INJURED AFTER BEING TEAR-GASSED AND ASSAULTED
4 OPPOSITION PARTY LEADERS TEAR-GASSED

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Despite warnings from the police, tens of thousand Malaysians braved themselves to the massive gathering called by reformists and opposition parties today at Jalan Kebun, Bandaraya Shah Alam.

All directions of the highway and roads leading to the gathering have been jammed up with more than ten thousand vehicles from 2pm until 6 pm.

The opposition leaders were forced to give their speeches on the highway. The speeches started around 3:30 pm and finished close to 5 pm. When the leaders went to approach the police to inform them that they would be dispersing, police fired tear gas and water at the people. The opposition leaders, Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (who was in a wheelchair), Lim Kit Siang, Fadhil Nor and Dr. Syed Husin Ali, were also tear-gassed. Several people passed out due to the tear gas.

The police have deployed about 6,000 police personnel in what seems to be an overreaction to a peaceful gathering. More than 40 persons have been arrested, many of them sustaining injuries caused by the police. They are being held at the Port Klang Police Station and outside the Jalan Kebun Secondary School.

People were arrested from the early afternoon at various points. Police were seen arresting people at toll-booths and being dragged out of their cars. Police officers were also found puncturing tyres; smashing cars and car lights; and one windscreen of a car parked near the front of the gathering was smashed by a tear-gas canister.

Unconfirmed reports said that there are dozens of people kept in a police truck outside the Jalan Kebun Secondary School where the police threw a canister of tear-gas into the truck. We gravely fear for their safety as they are kept within a massive police cordon.

Police chased after and forced journalists to handover their photographs.

Latest name-list of those (not complete) who have been arrested today are :

1. Abdul Hadi Hussein
2. Adnan Yasin
3. Ahmad Lufti Haji Abdul Rahman
4. Dahran Ariffin
5. Fatzil haji Abdullah
6. Haji Mohd Salim
7. Hassan b. Basiran
8. Hailizam B. Mohd.
9. Husni B. Hussein
10. Ishak b. Hujan
11. Ismail Che Ahmad
12. Mohd. Ban bin Hassan
13. Mohd Jamri b. Yaakob
14. Mohd. Firdaus Abd. Aziz
15. Mohd. Haffzal Ismail
16. Mohd. Hosni Hussein
17. Mohd. Nizam Moon
18. Mohd. Nor Zakaria
19. Mohd. Salim B. Lalbim
20. Mona Sufian
21. Munir haji Musa
22. Nasir
23. Nasaruddin Yusof
24. Nasaruddin Shaari
25. Noor Haili b. Mohd
26. Noor Hairizan Aznan
27. Puspalingam
28. Roslizam
29. Rahmat Mohd
30. Ramli Ismail
31. Sadari Adnan
32. Samuri
33. Shaari Bahri
34. Wan Khairul Anwar B. Wan Abdulah
35. Yahya Shahri
36. Zamarudin Bustaman

Those who were arrested on November 4.

1) Mohd. Johari bin Yasim - Youth Leader of Parti KeADILan Nasioal
1. Shah Alam Division
2. Zaidi Yusof - Executive member of the Youth Movement of Selangor Parti KeADILan Nasional
2) Nik Ismail Mohd. Ros - Selangor Youth Secretary - Parti KeADILan nasional
3) Abu Bakar - Reformist Activist
4) Norazimah Mohd. Nor - Reformist Activist
5) Hairi - Reformist Activist


WRITE URGENT PROTEST LETTERS AND DEMAND:
§ Write protest letters on the manner the Malaysian State and the police is carrying out this repressive exercise.
§ Condemn the abuse and the disrespect on freedom of assembly.
§ Express your concerns over the safety of the detainees
§ Demand the release of all those detained
§ Call for the Malaysian Human Rights Commission to intervene

LETTERS CAN BE ADDRESSED :
1) Ybhg Tan Sri Musa Hitam
Chairperson Malaysian Human Rights Commission
C/o Kementerian Luar Negeri,
Wisma Putra,
50602 Kuala Lumpur
Fax : 603-2425043
Email: humanrights@humanrights.com.my

2) Kofi Annan
Secretary General,
United Nations Room S-3800
New York NY 10017
Fax: 603-2910707
Email: ecu@un.org

3) Ms. Mary Robinson
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
CH 1211 Geneve
Switzerland
Fax:: (41) 22 9170213
Email: webadmin.hchr@unorg.ch

4) Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Home Minister
Jalan Dato Onn
50502 Kuala Lumpur
Fax-603-2301051

5) Tan Sri Norian Mai,
Inspector General of Police
Ibupejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,
Bukit Aman,
50560 Kuala Lumpur
Fax: 603-22731326



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