Keadilan leader and lawyer Zainur Zakaria told a Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) inquiry today that he saw police personnel kicking and breaking the windscreens of vehicles that had stopped along the Kesas highway on Nov 5 last year.

The occupants of the vehicles were on their way to the '100,000 People's Gathering' organised by opposition party Keadilan at a vacant ground at Jalan Kebun, Klang, but were stopped by the police at the Bukit Kemuning toll plaza

"I was on the other side of the highway, heading towards Kuala Lumpur at about 2pm and I saw many stationary cars on the road leading to Klang," said Zainur, the 46th and the last witness for the inquiry which ends today.

The inquiry is looking into allegations of police brutality during the aborted gathering.

Zainur said that he stopped his car and went over the other side to see what was happening.

"I saw some police personnel kicking some of the cars. I noted a Malay police officer kicking a door of a car which was trying to reverse and get out of the jam.

"At about the same time, I also saw some police personnel breaking the windscreen of a van. The driver was hurt by the shattered glass and his face was covered with blood," said Zainur.

'Very annoyed'

To a question by commissioner Mehrun Siraj, Zainur said the drivers of the vehicles had not attempted to knock down any police personnel.

He added that the police then took away the injured van driver in another car.

Zainur also testified to seeing some members of the police Public Order Riot Unit (Poru) attacking a yellow Volvo without any reason. He said that they broke the windscreen of the car using truncheons.

He said that the driver of the Volvo tried to drive away from the attack but his car was blocked by other cars.

Zainur said that the police personnel involved in damaging the vehicles looked very angry and were shouting at the drivers.

"I was very annoyed with the police behaviour. There was no reason to hit the cars," he said.

He said that he remained at the same spot and waited for the arrival of other Barisan Alternatif leaders who were on their way from Jalan Kebun.

After more than an hour, the leaders arrived at the spot and they decided to walk all the way back to Jalan Kebun with their supporters, he added.

Tear gas fired

"At one point, the police stopped the leaders from walking and we then decided to give a small speech before asking the crowd to disperse. But the police had by then moved in to disperse the crowd," said Zainur.

"We then decided to send a delegation made up of our youth leaders to discuss with the police an orderly and peaceful manner to disperse the crowd but before they could meet with the police officers, the police had fired tear gas at the crowd," he said.

Zainur also testified that he never heard the police calling for the crowd to disperse before firing the tear gas.

The lawyer said that on that day he was on his way to attend a wedding in Klang and had taken the Kesas highway to see if the gathering was proceeding as planned.

"On my way to Klang at about 1pm, I noted many cars heading towards Jalan Kebun and they had to pass through a road block. At the block, my car was stopped and the police asked me where I was headed.

"I told them that I had a wedding to attend. It was on my way back from the wedding an hour later when I noticed the many cars which had stopped on the other side of the highway," he said.

To a question by inquiry chairperson Anuar Zainal Abidin, Zainur said that only the road leading to Jalan Kebun was blocked by the police.

The third member of the inquiry panel is Simon Sipaun, chairperson of the Sabah Civil Service Commission.