A legal rights group has rebuked Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for “blindly defending” the police over their handling of an Oct 2 pro-Palestine rally, which saw widespread chaos and injuries among protesters and police forces.

Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) director Zaid Malek accused the minister of unfairly vilifying protesters and told him to investigate instead the police’s alleged aggressive treatment and rights violations against rally participants.