Three organisations representing hawkers and petty traders in Kuala Lumpur are bent on claiming about RM10 million in compensation from the Abolish ISA Movement (or GMI by its Malay abbreviation) which organised a massive rally last Saturday.

NONE Federal Territory Bumiputera Traders Association president Rosli Sulaiman lodged a police report against GMI at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

He named GMI and its leader Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh as being responsible for the losses that the traders incurred during the demonstration. PAS treasurer Hatta Ramli had rubbished such claims yesterday.

Rosli also represented two other organisations - the Masjid India Hawkers Association and the Bumiputera Hawkers and Shopowners Association.

Together, the three have more than 1,000 members, each of whom is claiming at least RM10,000 because of “damage to equipment, premises, merchandise and loss of business” during the anti-ISA rally last Saturday.

Rosli said most of the claims arose from goods being knocked over by fleeing demonstrators, but some traders have also reported missing merchandise. However, he did not itemise the losses or provide detailed figures on this.

More than physical damage, he claimed that the “spreading of rumours and reports in the media of the impending demonstration reduced the number of customers”.

At the same time, he said losses are still being incurred because customers are staying away from hot spots like Jalan Masjid India.

“Customers who ordered goods before from a trader for example, will not be coming to collect them.”

NONE He described the effects of the events of last Saturday as being “traumatic” to the traders, both to their profits and psyche.

Rosli told reporters that the police report serves as a “reference point for further action” in the upcoming legal battle against GMI.

He said the Federal Territory Umno division has offered legal aid and that a pool of lawyers has already been shortlisted to form the legal team.

Federal Territory Umno Youth chief Rizalman Mokhtar and Bukit Bintang counterpart Tengku Azman Tengku Zainal Abidin accompanied Rosli to the police station.

Reports against police, minister

In a separate development, Young Malays Graduate Coalition president Mohd Khairol Azam Abdul Aziz lodged two reports at the same police station.

One was against the Royal Malaysian Police for “not taking enough measures to prevent the demonstration”.

NONE Mohd Khairol said that, although police knew about the demonstration, they had failed to take preventive measures by using powers available to them in Section 103 of the Criminal Procedure Code. This includes the power to effect arrests without a warrant.

He further contended that the police did not arrest the key players behind the demonstration, in order to prevent the rally.

He claimed that because of the failure of the police to prevent the demonstration, he suffered a "loss of reputation as a father" in failing to fulfil his promise to take his children out shopping in Sogo that day.

In his second report, against Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, he claimed that the latter’s media statement prior to the demonstration – instructing the police to take tough measures against any illegal demonstrations – was in contravention of the Emergency Ordinance.

He alleged that Hishammuddin may have overstepped his bounds as home minister and may have abused his powers in instructing the police directly.

“Only a police officer can (issues orders to) the police,” he added.