KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — The police have warned lawbreakers not to react angrily if action is taken against them this Saturday, when the Bersih 5 demonstration and counter rallies are set to take place.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police will act against anyone found breaking the law, whether they supporters of the polls reform group or the “Red Shirt” movement that has frequently clashed with the former.
Authorities maintain that the rallies will be unlawful as they allegedly did not meet legal requirements.
“Of course we are prepared,” Khalid said as quoted by Malaysiakini, referring to possible clashes on Saturday.
“I want to reiterate that all parties need to follow the law and don't get angry with us when we take action against those who don't follow the law, be they yellow or red shirts,” he added, referring to supporters of Bersih 2.0 and the Red Shirts.
Last week, Khalid said Bersih 2.0 steering committee was yet to fulfill the preconditions from the authorities to hold a rally this Saturday.
Bersih 2.0 remains adamant that it has met all conditions Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 to hold the Bersih 5 rally on November 19.
It said that it had personally delivered the 10-day notice required under Section 9 of the law to the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman.
Bersih 2.0 has also refuted the senior police officials’ statements that the group did not submit notices for their nationwide convoys, calling it untrue and baseless.
The Bersih 5 rally by the polls reform group seeks free and fair elections, a clean government and a stronger democracy.
The street demonstration is scheduled to take place at Dataran Merdeka, with two meeting points for protesters to gather at — Dataran Maybank and Masjid Negara — before heading to the historic square.
Last month, Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos claimed that over 300,000 people have pledged to join the Red Shirts movement to rally against Bersih 2.0 supporters during their fifth mega rally planned on November 19.
The Sungai Besar Umno chief who leads the movement reportedly said that his supporters would be three times as large compared to the crowd that the polls watchdog group managed to pull in Bersih 4 rally last year.
