KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Polls reform group Bersih 2.0 was “negligent” in its duty to ensure its 2012 mass rally went peacefully and had encouraged protesters to act inappropriately in the gathering that cost Putrajaya over RM110,000, the High Court here heard today.
Senior Federal Counsel Normastura Ayub, who represented the government, hit out at the “strong” wording in the electoral watchdog’s guidelines for the 2012 rally that later turned unruly and saw allegations of police violence against demonstrators.
“It’s a very strong words to encourage participants to do things which they are not supposed to do.
“I will submit because of this statement, there is a special relationship between the organisers and the participants who damaged the property at the material time,” the lawyer told the court in the final stages of the government’s civil suit against Bersih 2.0.
She read out excerpts from the guidelines, including a line that said: “Sesungguhnya anda akan rasa lebih hebat dan berani lagi selepas ditangkap kerana tidak semua orang berpeluang merasai apa yang anda lalui ketika ditahan” (You will feel greater and braver after being arrested because not everyone will have the opportunity to feel what you experienced).
In her submission for the government, Normastura pointed out that the 2012 sit-in protest — dubbed Bersih 3.0 — was the biggest rally ever organised by the polls reform group.
But she said that the organisers had failed and were negligent in their responsibility to ensure an orderly assembly, citing testimony from defence witnesses, where some were unaware of the existence of a field commander or uncertain about the presence of such a position.
Normastura said a defence witness had said a field commander was the head of PAS’ Unit Amal which was tasked with ensuring peaceful conduct by rally-goers, but noted that yet another defence witness testified that “field commander” was a new term and was never spoken about during the witness’s employment with Bersih 2.0.
On May 23, 2012, the government sued the electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 under Section 6 (2) (g) of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012, claiming compensation for alleged damages to property — including 15 police vehicles — during the rally.
The government is now seeking special damages of RM110,543.27 from the then Bersih 2.0’s co-chairs Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and A. Samad Said and 14 other committee members.
A total of 52 witnesses were called for this case, with 33 testifying for the government and 19 testifying for Bersih 2.0.
Alvin Julian, a lawyer for the defendants, said today that the rally organisers could not be held vicariously liable for the property damage by unknown members of the public.
He pointed out that the government had not identified the individuals who had damaged the police vehicles, saying that Bersih 2.0 could not be made responsible for or be shown to be negligent for the actions of these “anonymous persons”.
Bersih 2.0 has also maintained that the chaos started after the rally ended with the group's call to disperse.
High Court judge Datuk John Louis O’ Hara will deliver his decision on January 30.
