Several Bersih 2.0 rally participants today urged the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) to investigate police violence they allegedly suffered from during last Saturday’s rally.

Led by Bersih 2.0 steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah, some 30 participants handed over a memorandum to Suhakam vice-chairperson Dr Khaw Lake Tee at the commission’s Kuala Lumpur headquarters today.

Before doing so, four participants recalled their traumatic experience with police on that day.

One of them said a policeman threatened to kill him when arresting him.

NONE “The policemen charged at me, pinned me down on the ground, handcuffed me and whacked the hell out of me,” said the 27-year-old Indian Malaysian, who only wanted to be known as Arun.

“One police officer, I would be happy if I can identify him, threatened to kill me. He said, ‘Bunuh dia lah ’ (kill him).”

Arun said the assault took place as he was walking in front of Wisma Pahlawan with a cousin at 4.10pm, after the crowd had dispersed.

He then saw that a group of FRU about to charge at a young man who was standing on the street, who was not doing anything.

NONE “I uttered, ‘Don’t hit him, he is not doing anything’. Then the FRU men charged at me. Some seven policemen brought me down.

"My cousin asked them not to hit me but they arrested him, too,” he told Malaysiakini .

Arun said the FRU men kicked and punched him during the arrest, injuring his forehead ( above ) and hands ( left ).

He is not affiliated to any political party, he added, and the only reason that put him on the street was the desire for freedom.

Other complainants include Sarawak activist Hii Tiong Huat, who was arrested a day before the rally, and a cousin of Baharudin Ahmad, who died after collapsing at Avenue K on the day of the rally.

Recounting his five-day detention, Hii said a police officer at the Bukit Jalil police station slapped him, nearly 10 times with the back of his hand, until he fainted.

"When I woke up, I was lying on the ground, five metres away from where I had stood earlier."

Hii showed reporters his damaged spectacles, which had flown off during the assault.

He said the police assault was "very professional" as the slaps on his cheek could not be examined.

NONE Before being sent to the Bukit Jalil police station, Hii ( right ) said, another plainclothes policeman had slapped him, in the same way, at the Dang Wang district police headquarters, where he was first sent after arrest.

"It was a heavy slap. I shouted 'jangan' (don't), and then only he stopped."

The maverick Sarawakian also claimed that the police were speeding when sending him to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.

"I told the policeman 'drive slower, I'm not VIP, I don't deserve (such treatment)', but he replied me that 'this is an emergency case, I have to speed'," said Hii, clad in his trademark yellow T-shirt with his name printed on it.

Another complainant, filmaker Liew Seng Tat, was one of those who sought shelter at Tung Shin Hospital on Jalan Pudu, and witnessed the tear gas and water cannon attack on the hospital.

"Tear gas was fired into the compound of the hospital and police charged into the compound to arrest people. We had no choice but to run up the slope.

'I was pinned to the ground'

NONE "I was pinned to the ground and handcuffed by police. Some policemen joined in and kicked us with their boots. When I was pinned down, a policeman keep slapping me, I wasn't even challenging him," Liew (left) said.

While he was taken past the FRU men after being arrested, Liew added, one policeman assaulted him again with a baton, while another kicked him.

Then, he said, a policeman picked a dirty price of cloth from the road, which he believed contained chemical-laced water, and shoved it onto his face, causing him pain and paralysing his vision for a long period.

NONE Baharudin’s cousin, Azhar Kassim, 45 ( left in photo ), said Baharudin once served in the army and only had a slightly high blood pressure.

This is contrary to the explanation given by the authorities that the death was caused by a heart attack. The family is still waiting for the post-mortem report from the hospital.

"He left three children, and two of them are still young. He is not rich, the family lives in a flat. I will seek justice for him," said the sad man.

Azhar added that Baharudin's body sustained physical injuries, including broken bones in his chest, and broken teeth.

NONE The Bersih 2.0 memorandum quotes eyewitnesses as saying that it took at least one hour for an ambulance to arrive at Avenue K, after Baharudin collapsed there.

Mohamad Sabu (left), who arrived at the Suhakam office in a wheelchair, described again the incident on Saturday, which caused him to suffer a torn ligament.

Mohamad lodged a police report this morning, saying police rammed a truck into the motorbike he was riding as he was heading to join the Bersih 2.0 protesters.