Cops raid Bersih office Print
Thursday, 30 June 2011 21:11

PETALING JAYA: Police raided the Bersih secretariat in Section 4 in relation to the July 9 rally.

It is learnt that several policemen were seen at the single-storey house in Jalan 4/48E around noon. They demanded to be allowed into the premises.
“They did not provide any search warrant and warned that they would break open the gates if it was not opened,” lawyer Lateefa Koya said.

She said the raid was led by an ACP Rosli and the policemen inspected all the rooms in the office.

There were six staff members and volunteers in the house and police recorded their statements.

Lateefa said the police were investigating the matter under Section 27(5) of the Police Act and the Printing and Presses Publication Act.

“They seized several items including leaflets and paraphernalia that was meant for the Bersih rally,” she said.

Selangor police chief Deputy Commissioner Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah confirmed the raid.

“We received information that the premises was conducting illegal activities. So we raided the premises,” he said.

He revealed that the police found hundreds of Bersih T-shirts and Bersih logos and emblems.

He said the police were investigating the matter under Section 50(3) of the Societies Act as they learnt the premises was not registered. They would refer to the Registrar of Societies for further action.

Meanwhile, car stickers displaying the Bersih 2.0 logo and carrying messages calling for the overthrow of the government are not the work of Bersih 2.0 organisers, said PAS MPs.

Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub said he had received a picture from a Johor-based printer who said the stickers were being printed in large quantities.

He said the yellow stickers carried the messages “Bersama kita tumbangkan kerajaan sekarang” (Let's overthrow the government together now) and “Buktikan kita mampu seperti Libya” (Let's prove we can be like Libya).

“This is an organised plan by certain parties, which is clearly to sabotage the rally on July 9. The stickers are not our doing even though it has the Bersih logo,” he said in the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Bersih 2.0 steering committee member Haris Ibrahim said the organisers had not commissioned the stickers.

Fellow committee member Wong Chin Huat said it was not Bersih's style to use stickers to spread their views