“The convoy is peaceful and orderly,” said Suaram Executive Director Sevan Doraisamy in a statement.

The NGO wants a swift investigation into the “criminal acts” by Jamal Yunos and his supporters. “They should be prosecuted,” it said, further condemning the violence by the Red Shirts against the Yellow Shirts, the Bersih 5 convoy.

The NGO reminded the police that it should protect freedom of assembly. “The growing threat posed by the Red Shirts should be defused before more serious incidents take place.”

Sevan cited, as an example, the scuffle that took place on Saturday where Red Shirts supporters assaulted a Bersih 5 convoy participant and members of the media.

“This is a dangerous precedent,” said the Suaram Chief. “Jamal Yunos, as the ringleader of the group, must immediately apologise for his unconscionable acts.”

The rhetoric by the Red Shirts leader and his supporters can no longer be seen as verbal brinkmanship, warned the statement.

“The events and escalating violence documented in the past few weeks have made it clear that Jamal Yunos, and the Red Shirts that he leads, plots to derail Bersih 5,” it said.

They want to do this by whatever means, cautioned Sevan.