Protest claims one life

The husband of a PKR branch leader died when he collapsed while fleeing from the tear gas fired by the police.

KUALA LUMPUR: The husband of a PKR branch leader died after collapsing at KLCC when the police fired tear gas at a group of Bersih 2.0 protesters.

According to party leader Latheefa Koya, the deceased had been identified as Baharuddin Ahmad, 59.

His wife, Rosni Malan, the PKR Setiawangsa chief, was at Stadium Merdeka when the incident happened.

According to Latheefa, Baharuddin ran when the police fired tear gas and he had tripped over another person.

He was then rushed to Hospital Kuala Lumpur, where he was pronounced dead.

Latheefa is currently checking with the family to determine if a post-mortem should be conducted.

FMT photo gallery on Bersih 2.0 rally

Rowdy Umno protesters disrupt city life

About 300 supporters of Umno and Perkasa stage a violent protest against the state government and Bersih.

GEORGE TOWN: Some 300 supporters from Umno, Perkasa and an unregistered NGO Suara Anak Anak Mamak Pulau Pinang held a nearly three-hour noisy march and violent protest in the city centre, condemning both the Pakatan Rakyat state government and the Bersih 2.0 rally.

The crowd first gathered at the historic Masjid Kapitan Keling after Friday prayers at 2.30pm.

Chanting anti-state government and anti-Bersih slogans, they then marched for about 1.5km from the mosque to Komtar via Lebuh Chulia and Jalan Penang.

Their march against the traffic flow caused a standstill and tension in the city.

Eyewitnesses said the rowdy protesters hit windshields of cars, and violently shoved aside two meida men – a photographer from the Chinese newspaper Guan Ming Daily and a videographer from a TV station.

At Komtar, the protesters chanted anti-state government and anti-Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng slogans.

They demanded Lim’s resignation as chief minister on grounds that he had openly thrown his support behind the Bersih 2.0 rally planned for July 9.

Scuffles broke out when police finally took action to disperse the crowd.

Police detained eight people, including Senator Ezam Mohd Nor and Mamak Association chief Mohamed Ghani Abdul Jiman, for allegedly taking part in an illegal assembly.

Police deployed some 100 officers and men to thwart the gathering.

After the arrests and after police sounded the siren for the protesters to disperse, they gathered along Jalan Penang, where several Umno leaders, including Ezam, gave anti-state government and anti-Lim speeches.

Ezam, who was former PKR Youth chief, warned Lim that there would be more such protests in the future to force him out of office before the next general election.

Another group of demonstrators marched from Jalan Penang to the Komtar area, carrying two ducks.

They called out Penang state executive councillor and Batu Maung assemblyman Abdul Malik Abul Kassim. The police just stood by and allowed the protesters to perform their antics.

After the protest, the demonstrators marched back to the mosque via Lebuh Carnavon.

Another group proceeded to Penang Bridge. They held a separate rally, carrying banners, waving the Malaysian flag and handing out flags to passers-by.

‘Most racist leader’

A journalist from Sin Chew Daily was hit on the back while the protesters warned him that they would throw him into the sea if he continued to snap their photos at close range.

The protest caused massive traffic jam on the bridge but policemen failed to take any action.

The demonstrators chanted “Guan Eng is a Communist” and claimed that he was the “most racist leader in the history of the country”.

They carried banners carrying messages such as “Bumiputeras are in the government and Chinese in opposition, is there any hope for the Penang Chinese?”

The protest today was similar to the one held on March 14, 2008, a week after Pakatan captured the state.

At a press conference later, chief police officer deputy commissioner Ayub Yaakob denied receiving any directive from Lim to round up and remand all the protesters.

“I did not receive any directive. Police can take action on their own to preserve peace and harmony,” he said.

Outside the police headquarters, Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Hashim insisted that Lim had issued such a directive to Ayub.

“I have information from my boys that Lim had issued such a directive. He is cruel.

“Why can’t he allow a peaceful demonstration against him?” asked Zahrain.

Also present were Umno divisional heads Ahmad Ibni Hajar (Tanjung) and Musa Syeikh Fadzir (Bukit Mertajam).

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Pakistani Woman Gang Raped on Orders of Village Elders – “My Life is in Danger” – 13 Men Acquitted

A Pakistani victim of a village council-sanctioned gang rape, who became a symbol of the country’s oppressed women, says her life is in danger after the Supreme Court acquitted 13 men accused of the crime.

The gang rape was an officially sanctioned punishment attack ordered because her 12-year-old brother was judged to have offended a clan’s honor. The ruling leaves just one of the initial 14 suspects in prison. Mukhtaran Mai was attacked on the orders of a village council in Punjab province nine years ago as a punishment because her brother – who was 12 at the time – was judged to have offended the honor of a powerful clan by allegedly having an affair with one of its women.

Mai, aged 30, was an illiterate villager at the time but the seamstress defied taboos and shot to global fame by speaking out about her ordeal and taking her attackers to court. Mai had accused 14 men of being involved in raping her in a stable and in 2002, a court sentenced six of them to death while acquitting the others citing a lack of evidence. But in an appeal, the Lahore High Court not only upheld the eight acquittals but also overturned five of the six convictions. The death penalty for the sixth man, Abdul Khaliq, was commuted to life in prison. Mai appealed to the Supreme Court in 2005 but a three-judge bench rejected her appeal on Thursday, said Gohar Ali Shah, a lawyer for Mai.

‘I’m disappointed. Why was I made to wait for five years if this decision was to be given?’ said a sobbing Mai in a telephone interview from her village in the eastern province of Punjab shortly after the court announced the decision. ‘The accused can kill me and my family when they return home,’ she added. ‘I have lost faith in the courts, and now I am leaving my case to the court of God. I am sure God will punish those who molested me.’ In a further development, the Pakistan Interior Ministry today announced it would provide Mai with security.

Her courage in defying centuries-old rural customs of repressing women won her human rights awards and made her a role model for many women in Pakistan. Two years ago she married a police constable and she now runs a school for girls in her village with donations from the government and supporters at home and abroad. Mai said she would neither flee her village nor the country. ‘Life and death are in the hands of Allah … I will not shut my school and other projects,’ she said. The group Human Rights Watch expressed dismay at the court decision, saying the attack on Mai was a ‘crime that took place in full public view and the perpetrators were publicly identified’. ‘Today’s verdict by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the Mukhtaran Mai case reflects poorly on the Supreme Court,’ said Ali Dayan Hasan of the U.S.-based rights group. He said Human Rights Watch was particularly concerned about Mai’s safety and called upon on the government to ensure her protection. ‘This is a setback for Mukhtaran Mai, the broader struggle to end violence against women and the cause of an independent, rights-respecting judiciary in Pakistan.’

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