When Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin called on the police to promptly show video footage from the July 9 Bersih rally so as refute the opposition's claims of police brutality he also laid out for all to see the plot of the story BN will now spin.
"They should understand that when police are faced with a situation involving large crowds, they will have to act wisely. What the opposition and the alternative media have shown through channels such as YouTube and so on, are pictures of alleged brutalities," Bernama reported Muhyiddin as saying.
DPM makes his move
And the plot of the story goes a little like this, as forecast by Muhyiddin.
"But they did not show pictures of how there maybe acts of provocations, stone pelting, and the demonstrators taunting the police. They are human, police are human too. What is important is the fact that the police had exercised sufficient discipline and adopted a defensive approach; it's they (demonstrators) who had acted excessively."
The plot was pushed along further when the police replied to Muhyiddin’s comments.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said six teams will be set up to probe the alleged incidents of brutality and violence by the authorities during the Bersih rally.
He also appealed to the public to submit video footage captured during the march as evidence that police had used excessive force in dispersing protesters.
And to have maximum impact, all these will be shown on national television.
Clueless Rais, flailing Hisham
Rais Yatim offered for Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) to broadcast police recordings of unruly crowd behaviour captured during the July 9 Bersih rally.
The Information minister urged the police to hasten the showing of any such material to combat allegations of police brutality during their attempts to disperse the crowds attending the rally for electoral reforms.
All these actions are mere reflex action towards Muhyiddin’s comments which were not directed at the Bersih marchers but very much meant to hurt the minister in charge of the Police, the Home Minister - Hishammuddin Hussein.
Earlier in the week, Hishammuddin was in damage control mode, desperately covering his tracks on the use of force against a peaceful rally.
The police have made video recordings of the entire street demonstration last Saturday which can be used as evidence to refute 'wild' allegations and in the cases to be brought against offenders, Hishammuddin said in response to allegations of police brutality.
He added that several quarters had hurled all kinds of allegations through various channels, including the local and foreign media, and the recordings would be useful in determining the truth.
“Our (police) operations room has recordings of everything that happened last Saturday. As such, all the accusations and claims will be investigated with concrete proof,” he told a news conference at Bukit Aman just days after the July 9 march.
Hishammuddin said the recordings would be scrutinised together by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and CyberSecurity Malaysia.
“The police have nothing to hide. Whatever we have in our possession (as proof) will be used to answer the allegations. The evidence will also be handed over to the Attorney-General for action,” he said.
What the police footage shows
When Muhyiddin Yassin prompted the police to make public their videos he knew well that the videos would support the marchers' accounts of police brutality. His statement was designed to push Hishamuddin into a corner and prove his words that no such form of brutality was evident.
By the police own admission, in every arrest team there is a video-grapher taking videos, a move taken to counter any accusations of police brutality. Thus, it is highly probable that in the dozens of videos taken of these arrests, there will be those that would support the marchers' accounts.
If there is so much police video to support Hishamuddin’s claims, then why the need for the public to submit to the police their own videos as evidence? Would not the videos by the police be evidence enough of their innocence? Why have this evidence not made it to the public arena?
The answer is simple. The police footage does show police brutality. It does show that the marchers were arrested in a manner that threatened their lives.
The players and their roles
Muhyiddin Yassin caught Hishammuddin in a lie and further damages Hishammuddin’s credibility and burns him at the stake of public opinion. Rais Yatim is merely jumping on the band-wagon, seemingly ignorant of the plan Muhyiddin is hatching.
It shows clearly how the police and courts are merely pawns in a political game. In this plot, Hishammuddin will have no avenue to lie and will be forced to show the truth. The police know the truth and will surely give the standard reply, “We were following orders.”
All this will play into Muhyiddin’s hand, and further clear his way to assume the prime seat in the Malaysian government.
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