Police: We are not against freedom of speech

Police today defended themselves against accusation of selective persecution, saying that they are not against freedom of speech as enshrined in the Federal Constitution but are concerned about the safety of the public.

Selangor police chief DCP Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar refuted the Bar Council's claim on Monday that they practised double standards as seen in the way they handled two different illegal gatherings on Sunday.

"I will keep it simple. When our orders to disperse fall on deaf ears and are not adhered to, we will move in and act. That is when we may carry out arrests. What then are we expected to do? Stand and watch? We are law enforcers and when we act, it is within the parameters of the law. We will appear silly to the rest of society if we do not act.

"The protesters must remember that not everybody share their emotions, opinions and beliefs and the rights of others must also be respected. The police have a duty to make sure this right of the rest of society is upheld," he said.

He said if the protesters disperse on order, there will be no issues.

He cited the case of the anti-Internal Security Act (ISA) gathering in Petaling Jaya where the group dispersed soon after being told to do so for the first three weekends they got together and none were detained. But in the fourth week, they defied orders and kept regrouping, forcing police to act.

He said police do not allow open air gatherings for reasons of safety, preferring instead that they do so in an enclosed area like a hall.

"Say a group is against the ISA and decides to hold a mass protest. What if another pro-ISA group gets riled up and a confrontation takes place between the two and things get ugly, who is answerable for the safety of innocent bystanders. Those who were not involved may get hurt and then who is to be blamed? The police? Policing is also about prevention, that is why we do not want to wait until things get out of hand," he said.

He wondered why those who hold protests choose to do so in open public areas.

Asked if police had given more leeway to Barisan Nasional parties in allowing them to hold gatherings and were more picky with Pakatan Rakyat component parties, Khalid objected strongly to such a notion, saying police are apolitical.

"It may appear so because we seem to be detaining Pakatan Rakyat members. But why is that happening? Simply because they defy orders and they do not disperse even when repeatedly told to do so. When BN parties such as Umno carry out these protests, we act too but when they are told to disperse, they listen.

"Have the police not given such warnings to Pakatan gatherings? We do all the time but it is ignored. We are able to manage such protests done by BN members without having to resort to detaining anyone but when Pakatan Rakyat does it, it gets out of hand simply because they do not show respect for the law."

He said police issued permits for the anti-ISA gatherings in PJ for the past two weekends they have been gathering because they finally agreed to do so within an enclosed area at the Civic Centre.

He also clarified he had agreed to allow the burning of candles at the vigil strictly for 15 minutes only on the request of Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and this was only for that particular vigil and was not applicable to every other gathering.

Kuala Lumpur police chief DCP Datuk Mohd Sabtu Osman also said that when members of such protests disperse when ordered to do so, there is no reason for police to detain them as there will no grounds to charge them in court for illegal assembly.

He said this was the case when a pro-ISA group called Pewaris staged a protest along Jalan Ampang.