Teargas and another violation of the right of peaceful assembly and protest - Iranians in front UN Building

Shameful behaviour by Malaysian police again depicts the undemocratic nature of the UMNO led-BN government of Malaysia.

Freedom of expression, freedom of opinion and freedom of assembly are all very important aspects of a democratic society.

The duty of the police during any of these demonstration is to only ensure that flow of traffic continues unimpeded (or traffic is directed to alternative routes), and that there is no violence - that is all. Stand by the side-line...or maybe between the protesters and the UN building..

It is counting 1 to 10 ....then arrest when it comes to Malaysian protests today....and it is an embarrassment.

Using of teargas and water cannons is again an embarrassment...and using it because they feared the crowd MAY turn unruly is totally unacceptable - If and when the crowd do turn unruly, and if there is really no other option, then and only then would resort to using of tear-gas or water cannons...

If people want to protest - just allow them to, and after some hours the crowds will disperse and go home peacefully - In Malaysia, it is the presence and the actions of the police that creates unnecessary tension, fear and problems...If there is no presence of police, I believe most public protests in Malaysia will proceed and end calmly with no or little affect to normal life in the area.

Police say - ask us for permission first before you protest...and this is clearly non-sense. Informing the police of a protest event may be palatable - but asking them for permission is totally unacceptable.

In my own experience, even when you ask the police for permission to have a talk/forum, they either never want to give permission, or will delay the giving of the permission (or otherwise) until the very last minute - hence making it difficult for the organizer to even publicize the event, etc.. They will want to know what will be talked about - they will want you to change your speakers, etc... Nobody should be required to ask the POLICE permission in order to exercise our freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly,...rights

And yesterday, the Malaysian police did it again when Iranians went to protest in front of the UN...

Police fired tear gas at a group of about 700 Iranians, mostly students, who had gathered outside Wisma UN in Jalan Semantan after they refused to budge despite several warnings.

The Iranians had gathered to hand over a memorandum protesting developments in their homeland.

According to police, they were forced to use teargas to disperse the crowd, fearing that they would turn unruly.

Crowd control: Federal Reserve Unit personnel firing tear gas at the protesters in Kuala Lumpur Monday.

The incident happened after the group, who had permission to gather outside the UN building at 2pm, handed over the memorandum to a UN representative voicing their grievances and dissatisfaction over the recently concluded elections in their country.

However, only a small group dispersed while most decided to hold a sit-in and created a ruckus outside the building. They refused to budge even after the police had issued them with warnings to disperse.

Their sit-in also caused a massive traffic jam along busy Jalan Semantan.

Brickfields OCPD Asst Comm of Police Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Talib said the group was to leave immediately after handing over the memorandum.

Show of anger: The Iranians voicing their dissatisfaction over the election results in their homeland in Kuala Lumpur Monday.

“Despite our warnings, they refused to budge as they had wanted to give a speech for half an hour but we refused because they did not have a permit.”

“They continued shouting slogans against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and singing the Iranian national anthem,” he said, adding that the police had no choice but to fire the tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Immediately after the tear gas was fired, he said, the group went into a nearby building carpark before dispersing peacefully.

ACP Wan Abdul Bari said no one was injured or arrested during the incident. - Star, 16/6/2009, Cops fire tear gas to disperse Iranian protesters