Police have urged the public to stop making wild and provocative speculation through the Internet on an assault incident at the Himpunan Hijau 2.0 in George Town last Sunday.

Northeast district police chief Asst Comm Gan Kong Meng said such speculation would only worsen the situation, besides disturbing the police investigation into the incident.

“We are still gathering evidence and calling for witnesses in order to complete our investigation paper to enable the suspects involved to be arrested as soon as possible,” he told reporters in George Town today.

He said police also regretted claims that they were slow in controlling the situation that day until the gathering turned unruly.

“This incident was reported widely through the blogs and social web pages while the organisers actually did not inform the police before holding the gathering. But when such an incident happened, they accuse the police of not acting fast.”

Gan said so far, five police reports had been received on the incident.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 147 and Section 143 of the Penal Code for rioting and unlawful assembly respectively.

In the 6.30pm incident on Sunday, local Chinese daily Kwong Wah Jit Poh reporter Andrew Chew, 29, and photographer Lee Hong Chun, 25, sustained head and body injuries after being assaulted by some of the participants of the gathering.

The Himpunan Hijau 2.0 in George Town saw nearly 1,000 people protesting against the building of the Lynas Corp rare earth processing plant in Gebeng, Pahang.

The situation turned rowdy due to the presence of a non-governmental organisation which opposed the gathering.

- Bernama

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