Bersih has urged the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) to investigate the police for 122 cases of “police harassment” committed against their activists and supporters in connection with the Bersih 5 rally in November last year.

EAIC Operations Division director Muhammad Bukhari Abdul Hamid accepted the complaint and said he would look into it. He declined to provide a timeframe for investigations.

Maria said she hoped the EAIC would take action after previous appeals to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low (photo) did not bear fruit.

“We have received no updates from the police on these cases so far. We want a response from the police, for they have to account for all the people (that they have harassed).

“EAIC says it will look into our report and present our case to the police,” she told reporters after a short meeting with Muhammad Bukhari at the EAIC complaints counter in Putrajaya today.

The complaint was accompanied by a list of the 122 cases of “police harassment”, including 63 investigations or arrests over the pre-Bersih 5 rally nationwide convoy and 38 investigations or arrests over Bersih 5 rallies in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak.

It also included the 14 investigations on Maria’s arrest for “attempting to commit activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy” (under Section 124C of the Penal Code) and nine investigations over the Bebas Maria vigils.

Calling these cases a “violation of freedom of expression” and “arbitrary attempts to instil fear”, Bersih complained that the cases had also resulted in financial burdens for its volunteers and staff and created a chilling effect upon people to continue to speak out and voice their dissent.

The complaint also called on the EAIC to launch investigations on the police force for allegedly having failed to protect Bersih 5 rally participants, Bebas Maria participants and individuals who had received death threats in connection with the rally.

“Even after all the intimidation and death threats against Bersih activists, why have there been no reports from the police?” Bersih deputy chairperson Shahrul Aman Mohd Saari asked.