Eyewitness Account

The drama outside court in
The State vs the People

Using brute force, an authoritarian government tries to silence public anger at the Anwar verdict and sentence

By Aliran's Roving Correspondent

Outside the High Court, Kuala Lumpur
8.15 am, Wednesday, 14 April 1999

I had arranged to meet a fellow Aliran member at the National History Museum just off the Selangor Club field/Independence Square at 8.30am on 14 April so we could both go and represent Aliran at the front of the Federal/High Court Building for the Anwar verdict.

At 8.15am, I took a cab to the Padang. It was the taxi driver who informed me about the tight police cordon around the court area. Unsurprisingly, during the journey, we both come to the conclusion that the Court would, willy-nilly, find Anwar guilty on all charges. There was little doubt in our minds that Anwar was destined for a prolonged spell of incarceration given the political nature of the trial despite all efforts by the Court to portray the trial as being fair and just.

As the taxi driver said, "Dalam Islam, kita mementingkan hukum Allah yang menjaminkan keadilan. Tapi dalam kes ini, susah nak nampak itu court adil." (In Islam, we prize above all the law of Allah which ensures justice. But, in this case, it is difficult to see the court being just.)

In any case, I alighted at the City Hall corner of Jalan Raja Laut and walked to the National History Museum. The police were everywhere. Over 20 red Federal Reserve Unit and dark blue General Operations Force trucks, including the dreaded water cannon trucks, were parked at both ends of the field. Green-clothed GOF personnel, fully equipped in their battle dress of red helmet, perspex shield and rattan cane were stationed at strategic points along all nearby streets while the even more heavily armoured (and armed!) blue FRU personnel waited silently in their trucks.

White-shirted traffic policemen manned the roads and kept traffic flowing while numerous blue-uniformed police personnel could be seen in the area. Even as I walked to the museum, I could not help but sense a deepening tension in the air. Little did I realise how momentous the next few days will turn out to be.

Unfortunately, my Aliran friend overslept and did not make the appointment. I thus joined the small but growing crowd in front of the court. About 200 people were already there, many of whom were journalists from the international media. Apart from them, there were also foreign embassy staff, some lawyers, NGO personnel and other concerned Malaysians.

Of course, needless to say, I also saw many plainclothes Special Branch officers mingling in the crowd, some just hanging around while others were actively clicking away with their cameras, ostensibly to get photographs of all the Malaysians there for their photo dossiers.

First to arrive for court that fateful morning was Karpal Singh. Then came Gurbachan Singh followed by Malaysia's legal eagle, Christopher Fernando. The press mobbed them for statements as resounding applause greeted the lawyers.

Then from across the road came Raja Aziz Addruse. Like the others before him, he too was given a rousing welcome. And then, all fell quiet as the crowd settled down to a tense wait for the verdict.

While mingling and waiting, I suddenly heard shouts of "re-for-ma-si", "undur Mahathir undur"(resign, Mahathir, resign) "we want justice" and the singing of Barisan Kita (Our Frontline).

From Jalan Tun Perak, a crowd of about 200 persons emerged draped in keAdilan and PAS flags, carrying little blue placard banners with the words "Rakyat Hakim Negara" (The people are the judges of the country). They managed to get about 100 metres onto Jalan Raja in front of the Magistrates/Sessions Court but were immediately met with an aggressive show of force by the GOF and the FRU, who rushed out from their trucks into a phalanx formation of troops about four lines deep backed by water cannon and other trucks.

The demonstrators retreated and were pushed back into Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Raja Laut. I decided to follow behind the FRU personnel as they advanced so as to get a "police view of things". The demonstrators gathered at the junction of Raja Laut, Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Tun Perak, and especially at the Bank of Commerce corner. They were loud but peaceful as the FRU took up their new positions at the end of the street. A tense stand-off ensued.

Suddenly, my trusty cell-phone informed me that other FRU trucks (and demonstrators) were on the move on the National History Museum/National Mosque side of the Federal/High Court building. I turned and just managed to see some of the trucks moving into Lebuh Pasar Besar (For an account of events at this end of the road and the National Mosque, see Sabri Zain's recent Internet report).

Things quietened down for the next few minutes where I was but just when I thought it was okay to breathe with relief, I saw some FRU personnel racing into the Jalan Raja Laut underpass, ostensibly after some hapless demonstrators.

I returned to the courthouse only to hear the crowd there break out into a spontaneous chanting of "We want justice! We want justice! We want justice!".

But Judgment had been passed and someone informed the press: "Anwar has been found guilty as charged. He is sentenced to six years jail on each charge beginning today; sentence to run concurrently".

I saw shock, sneers of disgust and angry retorts in the crowd. Journalists frantically called their editors and filed the news even as it broke. Embassy staff canvassed for information and informed their respective embassies via their cell-phones.

After a few minutes, a teary-eyed Wan Azizah came out to make an admirable press statement,
which was determined, combative and full of hope. "They may jail Anwar but the struggle goes on¼".

Evidently, news travelled fast because I saw the water cannons in action, spewing their acidic yellow-green indelible dye while the FRU baton-charged the frantically fleeing demonstrators outside City Hall along Jalan Raja Laut.

The demonstrators ran helter-skelter with the FRU in hot pursuit. But they soon re-grouped further down the road. Again, the water cannon opened up on them, spraying all and sundry.

I rushed back towards Jalan Raja Laut/Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman to observe the action. There, I could not help but feel utterly indignant at the attitude of the police. The demonstrators under attack were absolutely peaceful and had done nothing unlawful. Sure they were a large boisterous group of people, about 2,000-strong, and yes, they were angry and yes, they were demanding justice and yes, they were calling for Dr. Mahathir's resignation. But what is so unlawful about that in a democratic country? Does unco-ordinated singing of Barisan Kita constitute a threat to public order and national security? So much for the police's new "mesra" (friendly) approach as enunciated by Dollah Badawi!

I turned and headed back towards the Court House but instead found myself herded by the police into the cul-de-sac car park between the Magistrates/Sessions court building and the river. Bizarrely, the police then ordered us to disperse.

But where to? Most of us trapped there sat down hoping not to antagonise the police. Instead, along came this cocky and aggressive plainclothes policeman who began by insisting that we co-operate with the police by dispersing but ended his appeal with a tirade, threatening us with arrest.

Unimpressed, the crowd spontaneously responds, "pigi-dah" (colloquial for "get lost"). This response, of course, did not endear the crowd to the policeman. I, however, managed to slip past this odious policeman and made my way back to the courthouse.

I saw a huge crowd gathered at the rear of the courthouse. So too, on the other side of the riverbank, next to the Hongkong Bank building on Jalan Benteng facing the rear of the courthouse. About 2,500 people lined the river railings. They were chanting and singing vociferously.

I immediately turned down Jalan Mahkamah Persekutuan and made my way to join the crowd at the rear of the courthouse. As I did so, a few police Pajeros led by out-riders raced past me sirens a-blaring. Odd convoy, I thought - until I realised that that heavily guarded convoy had to be Augustine Paul or the Attorney-General "making their getaway" from the courthouse. Otherwise, why the haste and tight security?

After a few minutes, I saw Anwar Ibrahim exit the courthouse and enter a dark blue police Pajero 4WD. As he emerged from the building, he waved first to the crowd, then turned and waved to the court staff upstairs who enthusiastically returned his greeting.

Everyone waved and applauded, and the cry "We want justice" rose strongly and repeatedly in our throats.

At this, I could only think: "Wow! Even court staff waved and applauded Anwar! If court staff could freely react this way, was it likely that they too found the court verdict outrageous?"

Wan Azizah and the children were the next to emerge from the court premises. They were mobbed by the press and the crowd as they made their way to the river-bank to wave to the large crowd on the opposite side.

A great cheer erupted. The crowd on both sides of the river chanted repeatedly "Re-for-ma-si, Re-for-ma-si, Re-for-ma-si", "undur Mahathir undur" and "We want justice"! And again, they sang Barisan Kita.

After Wan Azizah and her family left, things calmed down and people began to disperse peacefully. Tiredly, I invited a friend for lunch and, together, we made our way slowly towards Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman for a banana-leaf lunch.

As we passed the FRU in front of the courts, I witnessed the FRU personnel lounging around their trucks at the centre of the road. There was no more police phalanx on the road. Instead, many were resting, some talking animatedly, others laughing and joking with one another.

I could not help myself and stopped to stare. I found it hard to digest the fact that only an hour ago these very same laughing personnel were brutally squaring off against peaceful reformasi demonstrators. These very same FRU personnel were blasting their water cannons to disperse reformasi demonstrators as well as curious by-standers. These very same police personnel were viciously baton-charging reformasi demonstrators into side-lanes and under-passes. And these very same police personnel were intimidating and even taunting us peaceful bystanders in the cul-de-sac. In that instant, only two words flashed through my mind. "Grotesque" and "perverse"!

I missed the angry 3.00 pm demonstration along Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Masjid India which saw clashes between the police and the demonstrators. Many City Hall dustbin bonfires were lit, two dirty old windows of the Magistrates/Sessions court were broken, many roads signs vandalised and half of all the parking meters along Jalan Masjid India uprooted and smashed. I walked through the area at about 6.00pm and clearly, it showed the signs of angry demonstrators venting their anger after facing off the police who baton-charged and water-cannoned them.

Interestingly, I did not see any private property damaged in the vicinity, except for one OCBC ATM machine glass face along Jalan Tun Perak. Apart from this ATM machine, there was neither destruction nor looting of private property. If anything, it was largely public property that was vandalised, "government" property the target of the demonstrators' anger.

Indeed, most traders in the area just shut their shops hastily when the demonstrators moved through the area, many to re-open after they had left. The traders I spoke to said they shut as a precaution both against the demonstrators as well as the indiscriminate police water cannon!

I turned out of Jalan Tun Perak and walked up Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman towards Sogo. The road was deserted as the FRU had set up a roadblock, one of many today. As I walked pass the FRU trucks, I saw tired FRU and GOF personnel without their heavy armour just sitting by the roadside, staring curiously at passers-by like me.

I passed a string of phone booths in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and observed a few other FRU and GOF police talking intimately, whispering and giggling to friends and loved ones over the public telephone, probably telling their wives, children and loved ones that they would not be home for dinner that evening.

For a brief moment, I saw a human face to their brutish selves that day. A side which, however, they had proven they were wont to discard unquestioningly the moment they were given the order to water cannon, baton-charge, and beat brutally (as in the case of Tian Chua, Malek Hussein and dozens others) to disperse peaceful demonstrators.

"How perverse," I thought. How perverse to make people act thus. Perverse too this government that increasingly relied on such police savagery and aggression to preserve its rule.

In the heart of Kuala Lumpur
12.45 pm, Thursday, 15 April 1999

I was making my way via the Star Light Rail Transit to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange at Exchange Square to view possible investment opportunities. Getting off at Masjid Jamek, as I had been earlier advised by a civil servant friend of mine, I noticed a rather peculiar build-up of people outside the mosque, in both LRT station terminals straddling Jalan Tun Perak, as well as along the surrounding five-footways.

The crowd soon swelled to about 500 persons as more and more afternoon worshippers left the mosque only to congregate outside its gates, out of sheer curiosity, since everyone else was doing the same. (You know-lah, this most Malaysian of habits of stopping to see what is happening since everyone is doing likewise!)

Abruptly, about ten blue uniforms materialises from the side lane next to Masjid Jamek. "Hah, baju biru datang!" (Hah, the blue shirts have arrived) said a man just over my shoulder. These police personnel took up strategic positions in and around the crowd. So too did numerous plain-clothed Special Branch officers, many clicking away with their cameras.

But instead of dispersing, people just continued to mingle, "waiting for Godot" somewhat. Then, all of a sudden, four blue trucks filled with GOF police personnel arrived from the Selangor padang (field) area and took up position along Jalan Tun Perak just opposite the Magistrates/Sessions Court. Blue-shirted and other plain-clothed policemen moved into the crowd urging people to disperse but instead the tension was punctured by cries of "Re-for-ma-si". The peaceful crowd responded but also became nervous.

Individuals began to scurry hither and thither. Suddenly, the crowd at the Jalan Melayu side of the LRT station scrambled frantically as the GOF advanced. I was forced along with about a hundred other curious passers-by out of the LRT station towards Lebuh Ampang where the crowd
re-grouped and attracted even more curious passers-by.

Ironically, instead of dispersing the crowd, the police action only served to attract further attention. Soon, the crowd began to swell at the Lebuh Ampang-Jalan Tun Perak junction, where they just lined the streets to observe the police phalanx lined up rather spectacularly about 200 metres away. Everyone was peaceful.

But then, I heard more intense shouts of "Re-for-ma-si" and "undur Mahathir undur". The crowd cheered. After about a 20 minute stand-off, the GOF advanced and the crowd scattered giving the international press a field day. But, as soon as the GOF advanced, another crowd gathered behind them to observe the action. Police turned on them and they too scattered. A cat and mouse game ensued, borne out of sheer curiousity.

After about 20 minutes of this, the police surprisingly withdrew. I was surprised and even harboured some admirable thoughts about police restraint. The demonstrators, a small band of youths, however seized their chance and got the crowd chanting for reformasi. While they did so, I saw plain-clothed photographers taking their photographs. The demonstration lasted for a short 15 minutes and, when interest waned, the small group moved along Lebuh Ampang towards Central Market.

Along the way, someone amazingly produced a new Barisan Nasional flag from nowhere. The youths burned it in front of the Hongkong Bank building. Such behaviour only attracted more curious bystanders to follow them.

By this time, the youths were led by someone with a megaphone. At Central Market, they stopped, chanted slogans and called for Dr. Mahathir's resignation playing to an audience of over 500 persons. But, as soon as an FRU water cannon truck appeared along Jalan Cheng Lock, they scattered.

Again, admirable restraint held the police back and no untoward incident occurred. After some time, people lost interest in the small youthful group of demonstrators. It was evening rush hour and many passers-by just wanted to go home.

The group disbanded and everything returned to normal except for the presence of the water cannon and other FRU trucks in the area. By this time, it was almost evening. I was tired and entered McDonald's for a burger, a coke and to use the toilet. I bought my food but found out that I had to pay 20 sen to use the toilet!

Masjid Jamek, Kuala Lumpur
After lunch, Friday, 16 April 1999

I got to Masjid Jamek after lunch as I suspected there would be a reformasi demonstration there after Friday prayers. True enough, as the crowd spilled out of Masjid Jamek after Friday prayers, people lingered on. I estimated about 2,000 people on both sides of the street as well as on the road divider. Blue-uniformed policemen also appeared but only to observe the huge crowd emerging from the mosque from a safe distance.

Suddenly, from the Jalan Melayu side of the LRT station, a clear voice rang out "Re-for-ma-si" and the crowd responded. Led by about 100 youths, slogan after slogan, chant after chant, cry after cry was echoed. The road was not closed, and cars and motorcycles replied with the four-horned "re-for-ma-si" response. That really got the crowd cheering and clapping.

The crowd sang Barisan Kita and also Reformasi to the tune of "When the Saints Go Marching In". Again, this was a noisy but completely peaceful demonstration. There was no sign of any FRU or GOF presence.

Mysteriously, about 15 minutes into the demonstration, a police car suddenly appeared and drove right through the demonstration. That set off the crowd, who converged around the patrol car. Tensions rose, the crowd screamed and jeered at the patrol car. One of the more excitable demonstrators kicked the back of the patrol car.

Thankfully, the driver had the presence of mind to quickly get out of the situation. I could not help but wonder how on earth a patrol car complete with radio could stumble unprotected right into the heart of a reformasi demonstration. Was it deliberately done to provoke the crowd, I wondered.

Thankfully, nobody lost their control and everyone soon returned to singing, chanting and shouting boisterously. The demonstration petered out naturally after about 40 minutes as more and more people returned to work. They had made their point.

But the same small group of youths I saw yesterday still lingered on. Journalists told me that they were waiting for other students to join them to get things going again. While they waited, however, police photographers instead moved in and took everyone's photo. After about an hour, even the journalists lost interest and left. Jalan Tun Perak now looked like just any other street on a hot, polluted and noisy day in KL.

That evening, I took a slow walk through the city, from the upper end of Jalan Raja Laut to the National Mosque. Traffic was flowing normally as I walked pass the Selangor Club field but the police were still all over the place. Silently tucked away in between the field and the Anglican Church were arrayed numerous police vehicles, including one water cannon truck. They had been there for three days now.

As I stared at them in the setting light of day, I pensively concluded that, instead of guaranteeing peace and stability in KL, their continued presence in and around the vicinity of the Federal/High Courts only served to underscore the Mahathir regime's increasing reliance upon overt authoritarian measures to contain the erosion of the BN's legitimacy to govern.

In the heart of Kuala Lumpur
2.30 pm, Saturday, 17 April 1999

It is Saturday and I had arranged to go to Ulu Selangor today with some friends for dinner and to see fireflies. Unfortunately, at about 2.30pm I got a phone call that about 60 persons had been arrested outside Masjid Jamek via police photo identification and that a full-blown demonstration was moving towards Puduraya via Central Market. "Sorry, can't make it to to Ulu Selangor today," I informed my friends over the phone as I raced towards Puduraya.

By time I get there, the demonstration had already moved on towards Bukit Bintang instead. I rushed there via taxi, and I was just in time to see the FRU blasting their water cannon at all and sundry, demonstrators, press corps, innocent shoppers and curious bystanders alike. Shops were frantically closing their shutters.

The 1,000-odd demonstrators dispersed into side-streets trying to find a way out of a pincer-like movement as another unit of police moved in upon them from the Jalan Sultan Ismail junction. This time the FRU meant business and they went after the demonstrators with a vengeance and cleared everyone from the road.

I did not see any of the admirable restraint of the past two days among this lot of policemen. But then again, they already had everyone's photographs now, hadn't they? The FRU took up position at the Bukit Bintang - Lot 10 junction and herded hundreds of innocent shoppers, some decked out in their very best finery for a Saturday afternoon shop-about, into Lot 10. Like a pig to be culled, I too was herded inside where we were locked up for about 20 minutes or so when the Lot 10 management shut its doors after being ordered by the police.

Eventually, I exited Lot 10 via a side door and continued observing the FRU police. So too did the large crowd along Jalan Sultan Ismail near Imbi Plaza and Lot 10. The FRU were also observing them, ever-threatening to either baton-charge or water cannon the crowd. Thankfully, the GOF was instead sent marching down the street at intervals cracking their rattan canes against their shields so as to push back the jittery but curious crowd.

Ironically, however, this crowd was hardly the same crowd of reformasi-chanting demonstrators the FRU chased all over town. These were shoppers, tourists and bystanders caught up in the chase who were all just terribly curious or merely inconvenienced by the police action. Many were also unnerved and fearful after being treated so callously by the police.

Once again, my feelings of indignation welled up within me at how unthinkingly the police reacted to a situation they actually helped create. After all, had the police not arrested and pursued the demonstrators all over the city today, they would have just dispersed peacefully after they had got tired of shouting and chanting "Re-for-ma-si" - just like how it occurred in the past two days.

Instead, by turning up in overwhelming force, by indiscriminately firing their water cannons to disperse peaceful demonstrators (I did not see any damage to any property by the demonstrators either in Central Market, Puduraya or in Bukit Bintang), the police only attracted hundreds of curious bystanders into hanging around to observe events.

Ironically, this peaceful but overly curious crowd then became the target of "police control" despite the initial small group of demonstrators having since dispersed. In other words, the police also contributed to the demonstrations as much as the demonstrators themselves, and then justified their intervention to "restore public order" by dispersing not only the original demonstrators but also the innocent and curious crowd which gathered to watch events.

As I left Bukit Bintang and returned home, I received a call from a journalist friend who informed me that police and demonstrators were clashing in Kampong Baru. I shook my head dishearteningly and just went home, knowing fully well what the end game was going to be - an end game that did not have to be if only the police had exercised restraint and used persuasive dialogue instead; an end game that would not have to be if only the government was more open and democratic. But it is perhaps too much to hope for from an authoritarian, even fascist, regime bent on preserving an individual's power and position at all costs.