The car driven by 23-year-old mechanic Chang Jiun Haur had allegedly sped towards a group of policemen during the Bandar Mahkota Cheras fracas, according to a Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel.

suhakam inquiry cheras mahkota fru shahrizan Lance-corporal Shahrizan Abd Rashid ( photo, right ), 26, who was at the scene on May 27 controlling the traffic, said he saw Chang’s Proton Wira speeding towards him and a group of policemen.

"I saw the car coming fast towards us and it did not seem as if the driver was going to make a U-turn. That's when I heard someone yelling ' jaga-jaga! jaga-jaga!! ' (careful, careful!). So we moved to the side.

"When the car arrived near the U-turn, the driver made a sharp turn and the car stopped because there was another car in front," he told the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) public inquiry.

Question: What makes you think the car was speeding?

Shahrizan: I saw the lights of the car coming very fast. The road was not busy, but then it got busy near the U-turn junction. The car was coming straight and it did not show that it was doing a U-turn.

'I heard two cops were hit'

cheras mahkota fru assault on car sequence 280508 Following this, he said CID and FRU personnel stationed at the scene moved in and arrested Chang.

Shahrizan however did not see what transpired next as he had moved from the scene to keep watch over other vehicles and bystanders.

Prior to that, Shahrizan said he was standing just three to four metres from the car after it had stopped and was surrounded by FRU and CID personnel. He recalled that he heard "an acceleration noise" coming from the car's engine.

"The car was going forward and backward about two to three times and I heard an acceleration noise coming from it as if it wanted to go," he said.

"I also do not know which police officers was hit (by the car). I only heard two of them were involved," he said.

Asked if he had any knowledge how fast the car was travelling, the FRU personnel replied: "I'm not sure, but the speed could definitely cause serious injuries."

Question: Do you know the speed of the car?

Shahrizan: I'm not sure about the speed, but with that kind of speed, it would definitely cause serious injuries. When the driver wanted to U-turn, he made a very sharp turn. But the car had to stop all of a sudden as there was another car in front of it making a U-turn. At that time, CID and FRU stopped the car and arrested the driver.

He further explained to the inquiry that he did not witness whether the FRU or the CID attacked the car as it had "happened very fast".

"I did not see if he was being beaten, but I saw him when he was brought by a couple of CID to the roadside. I saw blood coming from his nose and he was handcuffed at the back. He was also fully clothed," narrated Shahrizan.

Question: Where were you at that point of time?

Shahrizan : About 15 metres from the car and I did not see what was going on. All I could see was the bystanders were all screaming at us. I was informed later that two of the police officers were hit, but I did not see who were hit. I'm not sure.

Did you see anybody being dragged out of the car?

I saw the driver being brought out and he was brought to the roadside. I saw his nose was bleeding.

Did you see anybody else in the car?

No, I did not see any other passengers in the car.

They all denied it

suhakam mahkota cheras inquiry fru kamal ariffin Another witness to the inquiry, ASP Kamal Ariffin Amman Shah, 40 (photo, right) , who was in charge of the FRU Cheras that night, said he also did not witness if the passengers of the car were attacked.

"I had to remain at the barricades because I had to control the movement of my FRU troops. I could not leave my place to see what was happening at the scene.

"But all of sudden, I saw a young Chinese male escorted by these two plainclothes personnel and he was bleeding, so I called sergeant Abdul Rahman Mohamad (in charge of the area near the U-turn junction) and asked what happened," he said.

Kamal also clarified to the inquiry that he was informed by his troops that Chang was injured because "there was a struggle during the arrest".

According to Kamal, the officer then explained to him that the car "rammed into my troops".

"But I could not confirm this and I took it as hearsay," he added.

At 1.20am, he said, he proceeded towards the scene and saw an unoccupied Proton Wira, belonged to Chang.

"So I asked the officers in charge, 'who beat him up?' And my troops said they did not do it. Then I ordered the personnel and (Chang) to lodge a police report in Kajang," said Kamal.

Question: Do you think a speeding car would be able to make a U-turn?

Kamal : In my opinion, it is not possible for any vehicle to take the U-turn at a speed more than 20kmph as it was a very sharp turn.

Third day of inquiry

Suhakam is investigating if the police had used excessive force during the incident. This is the third day of the inquiry.

On Wednesday, Chang testified that he was allegedly yanked out of his car and assaulted for no apparent reason.

The mechanic also claimed that he was trying to make a U-turn when he spotted the police blockade on the road.

According to Chang, he was driving about 20-30kmh as there were other cars in front of his Proton Wira. This is when the police personnel had allegedly mobbed his car and started kicking and hitting it with their batons.

Although 12 witnesses were scheduled to take the stand today only four were quizzed. Six more police witnesses will testify later but no date has been fixed.

mahkota cheras fru assault youth victim chang jiun haur 100608 The inquiry panel is headed by commissioner Zaiton Othman, and includes commissioners Dr Chiam Heng Keng and Khalid Ibrahim.

Suhakam is expected to call a total of 22 witnesses in all.

Among those who were asked to testify were Malaysiakini journalists Syed Jaymal Zahiid and Lee Weng Keat and videographer Ng Kok Foong. All three were on the stand yesterday .

Terms of reference

The panel's three-point terms of reference are:

a) To inquire whether or not any law enforcement personnel, in performance of their duty to maintain law and order, had used excessive force during the incident;

b) If there was excessive use of force, whether there was any violation of human rights of any person or persons and, who were responsible for such violations, and

c) To recommend what action to be taken against those responsible for the violation of human rights.

Watch 6-min video of police beating Chang

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