Traffic in parts of Kuala Lumpur was brought to a halt this morning as some 500 people marched from the Parliament building to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) office in protest of the recent hike in fuel prices.

The impromtu march was led by the 715,000-strong umbrella body of workers' unions, the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC).

At about 9am, the protestors gathered at the Parliament building to submit copies of a memorandum on the price hike to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his deputy Najib Abdul Razak, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.

Deputy Kuala Lumpur CID chief (operations) Ramli Din initially would only permit two representatives to enter, telling the rest to disperse.

This was rejected by the protestors, who wanted a delegation of 10 instead. Five representatives were eventually allowed to enter the Parliament building on condition that the crowd dispersed.

At this juncture, Lim came out to meet the protestors and receive their memorandum.

MTUC leaders - president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamad and secretary-general G Rajasekaran - rejected the condition to disperse and insisted that the protestors should be allowed to stay where they were.

"Why should I tell the people here to disperse? It is their right to stay here to assemble peacefully. I don't have the position to tell them any such thing. Let (Ramli) tell them himself," said Syed Shahir.

Added Rajasekaran: "We are very far away from the gate, and traffic is going through (to Parliament). This is a very peaceful gathering as we are standing here together (by the sides of the road). (But) the police don't seem very tolerant about this."

The protestors turned down the proposal and decided to march to the Suhakam office instead to submit the memorandum to the rights commission.

"You want to go to Suhakam, go. Go to court (if you want to)," Ramli ( photo ) was heard telling Rajasekaran.

Entrance blocked

Waving placards and shouting slogans as they made their way through the city to Jalan Raja Laut, they brought vehicles to a standstill each time they crossed a street.

Following not far behind them were water cannon trucks, police light strike force vehicles and Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) trucks as they wove through the traffic.

The protestors reached the Suhakam office in Menara Tun Razak at about 10.40am, but were met by more FRU personnel. About a dozen blocked the entrance on the ground floor.

Dangi Wangi deputy district police chief Mohd Rodzi Ismail was in charge. He was the officer who issued warnings yesterday at another MTUC-led protest at the Petronas Twin Towers which led to the arrest of 22 persons.

He issued the same warning - that no permit had been issued for the gathering and that it was therefore an illegal assembly.

However, he allowed a delegation to enter the building to submit the memorandum to Suhakam commissioner N Siva Subramaniam. At this point, MTUC leaders told the protestors to return to their waiting buses.

At the Suhakam office, the delegation wasted no time in criticising the actions of the police. They also blasted yesterday's crackdown on the peaceful assembly.

"They are preventing us from stating our position and dissatisfaction. If we cannot do this in our country, what is there that we can do?" asked Syed Shahir.

'Conduct inquiry'

Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president R Sivarasa slammed the police for blocking the entrance to Suhakam's headquarters in Menara Tun Razak, as well as the violent reaction by the police yesterday.

"I've come to Suhakam many times and have done so for many years. This is the first time that I've been stopped by FRU from giving a memorandum (to Suhakam)," he said, adding that in such a situation "the violence is violence committed by the police (themselves)".

He urged the commission to issue a strong statement criticising the police's actions and to increase pressure for the creation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

The delegation also urged Suhakam to conduct a public inquiry, especially into the incidents at KLCC yesterday.

Suhakam's Siva said the complaints and suggestions would be conveyed to the other commissioners.

The commissioner was also shown photos of alleged police brutality at yesterday's protest.

"The police have no business to prohibit anyone from entering Suhakam. This (commission) was established by the (King)... Any citizen who wants to submit a memorandum to Suhakam has every right (to do so)," he said.

Suhakam also "condemns any move by the police" to prevent anyone from expressing their dissatisfaction.

He added that the complaints about police conduct in relation to the MTUC protests would be investigated.

Yesterday's protest: PHOTO GALLERY , 3-MINUTE VIDEO