Chaos erupted at a talk by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in Kampung Kerinci last night when police mounted the stage to stop the event.

anwar ceramah at kampung kerinci 06 Led by Brickfields district police chief Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid, police personnel went up on stage at Block L of the PKNS Flats in Kampung Kerinci to ask the Pakatan Rakyat stalwart to stop speaking.

The incident occurred around 11.35pm, approximately half an hour after Anwar began his speech. About 500 people, who were present at the talk since 8.30pm last night, witnessed the incident.

During the interruption, the Pakatan stalwart was defending himself against sodomy charges and delivering his opinion on current issues such as the purchase of submarines, Teoh Beng Hock's death and the missing jet engines.

anwar ceramah at kampung kerinci 04 "That is why the theme of my speeches this month is 'Save Malaysia," Anwar had said.

Suddenly members of the audience yelled, "The police are here!" In response, Anwar quickly said, "It's okay, it's okay. I can give myself up."

Wan Abdul Bari and a few other police officials then proceeded to mount the stage and asked Anwar to stop speaking, causing his supporters and bodyguards to crowd around him.

                                        

Members of the audience also protested the police's attempts to stop the speech.

Not allowed to end with prayers

The tension escalated when Anwar tried to end his speech with prayers, but was not allowed to do so by the police.

anwar ceramah at kampung kerinci 03 Anwar was then seen in a heated discussion with Wan Abdul Bari, but it is uncertain what they were arguing about.

The entire episode lasted for about 10 minutes. Following the abrupt end of the event, Anwar's supporters brought him to a house located nearby.

Pakatan supporters continued to shout and jeer at the police who were still on stage, demanding that they leave the area.

The organisers of the event also switched off the lights on stage, causing Anwar's supporters to cheer and shout, "Reformasi!" a few times at the police officials who were still lingering on stage.            

Mobbed by reporters after the incident, Wan Abdul Bari said the police had to stop Anwar's speech because the content was "not in line with the 'Mesra Rakyat' programme."

"The event was a programme to meet the rakyat. At the beginning it was fine but his (Anwar's) speech was more political in nature, which is against the whole point of the 'Mesra Rakyat' campaign. So we had no choice but to stop the speech."

Police come under fine

anwar ceramah at kampung kerinci 02 Meanwhile, PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar, who was also giving a speech at the event, told reporters that he disagreed with the police' actions.

According to him, the police acted in an "unprofessional" way and "caused even more chaos."

Anwar’s daughter and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar also voiced her opposition to the police's actions.

anwar ceramah at kampung kerinci She said the police should act in a more professional manner, especially in front of the public.

Furthermore, she explained that the organisers had applied for a permit to hold the event but no such permit was given.

The organisers had also applied to hold the event in a hall near the flats but failed to get permission to do so, she added.

Malaysiakini observed that there were two police roadblocks before the event took place - one from University Malaya (UM) towards Vista Angkasa condominium, about 50 metres from the venue of Anwar's speech, and the other from Pantai Dalam, about 400 metres from the venue.

More than 30 police officers including the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) were present at the venue of the speech.

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