Green marchers say Special Branch trailing them
DAY 7 - KARAK Six unknown men have been identified following the Himpunan Hijau protesters walking to Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur from Kuantan, officials of the environmentalist group say.
DAY 7 - KARAK Six unknown men have been identified following the Himpunan Hijau protesters walking to Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur from Kuantan, officials of the environmentalist group say.
Himpunan Hijau spokesperson Wong Chun Yuan told Malaysiakini they suspect the six men to be members of the police Special Branch (SB).
Chun Yuan said two of the unidentified men had first been spotted taking photographs and jotting down notes as the anti-Lynas rare earths refinery plant protesters were marching along the Kuantan-Gambang route.
"We recognise them (the two men) to be from the Special Branch based in Kuantan. They always appear at our activities," he said.
He said the unidentified group increased to six men at Karak. They moved in three cars, monitoring the green marchers at their gatherings and resting points.
Last Wednesday, an unknown person who claimed that he was a police officer, tried to chase away members of the PAS Unit Amal who were escorting the marchers at Sri Jaya, about 15km from Maran.
According to one of the officials in the organising committee, the man warned that the escort provided by the Unit Amal was "dangerous" and threatened to issue a summons.
However, the man did not produce any identification to prove he was from the police and left after jotting down a Unit Amal member's driving licence details.
Chun Yuan said that the group of men have since not interrupted the marchers nor communicated with them.
A photograph provided by Himpunan Hijau ( above ) shows an unidentified man wearing the official Himpunan Hijau T-shirt.
Back to hometown for Wong
Yesterday, some 300 people gave the marchers a warm welcome in Karak, the town in which Himpunan Hijau chairperson Wong Tack grew up.
Wong told Malaysiakini that he felt excited as he approached Karak.
"An old friend left his lorry and hugged me when we got close to Karak. Both of us had tears on our eyes... it was quite amazing. My friends support our walk."
Wong ( right ), who is the organiser of the march, also took the opportunity to visit his old friends and relatives in Karak and to share his anti-Lynas experiences with them.
The 300km green march started on Nov 13 and the anti-Lynas refinery protesters are expected to reach Dataran Merdeka this Sunday.
Thy are scheduled to hand over a memorandum urging government to shut down the Lynas rare earths plant at the Parliament House the next day.
The marchers are now heading towards Bentong.
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