Khalid Abu Bakar, who was deputy inspector-general of police at the time, said the Bersih rally was on the verge of chaos and that police had managed to prevent an aggravated situation including activities like looting.
“The situation was nearly out of control. It was no longer peaceful as there was violence and destruction of public property,” he said when examined by lawyer Mohammed Nasser Yusof.
He was testifying in a trial where former Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah is suing Red Shirts leader Jamal Yunos for defamation.
Khalid, who retired as inspector-general of police last September and is now Prasarana Malaysia Bhd group chairman, is appearing as a witness for Jamal, who is also Sungai Besar Umno division chief.
The 2012 rally was led by Maria’s predecessor Ambiga Sreenevasan.
However, Khalid said Maria was one of the event’s organisers, adding that they were unable to control the crowd and had incited the public with politically charged speeches.
He said on April 28, 2012, several government vehicles were turned turtle by Bersih supporters who participated in the gathering.
Khalid said the police perception of Bersih was that it was an organisation that refused to respect the law and follow the advice of the law enforcement agency.
Khalid said Bersih had the right to conduct peaceful gatherings to demand free and fair elections, but that its street protest was to bring down the government.
He added that Maria had also been investigated under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) in 2015 as police received information that Bersih had obtained foreign funds.
Cross-examined by Maria’s lawyer, N Surendran, Khalid said he was unsure whether the police had closed their probe on Maria for allegedly receiving foreign funding as he had retired.
However, he said he was aware that Maria had yet to be charged with any security-related offences by the public prosecutor.
Khalid said he was unaware that the court had dismissed a suit filed by the government against Bersih for destruction of public property in 2012.
He denied that as a law enforcement officer, he had not facilitated Bersih in exercising its democratic right to assemble peacefully and that he had been critical of the organisation as evidenced in a series of media statements.
Maria is suing Jamal for slandering Bersih during a press conference outside the Putra World Trade Centre on Sept 28, 2016.
She also claimed that on Oct 4 that year, Jamal had uttered similar slanderous words against Bersih during a media conference in the Bukit Aman police headquarters compound.
In her statement of claim filed on Oct 7, Maria said she had been brought into public scandal and had her reputation and good name tarnished.
She is seeking general and aggravated damages, as well as an injunction to stop Jamal from uttering or publishing similar words, either verbally, in print, or online.
Jamal is relying on justification and fair comment as defence.
The hearing continues before Justice Mohd Zaki Abdul Wahab this afternoon.
Activist: Maria’s husband a member of PLO but didn’t use arms