In the report filed at the Sentul police headquarters, Mandiri programme officer Wong Kueng Hui accused the officer, who identified himself as Hafis, of accusing the protesters of being under the influence of drugs and threatening to arrest them.

“The situation became more tense when I and the participants asked the officer to mind his manners so we could hand over our memorandum peacefully.

“However, the officer continued provoking us, and attempted to charge towards the participants before Parliament security personnel and several policemen stopped and calmed him.

“I also requested the officer’s full name and service number, but was refused,” he said in the report.

Lawyer Zaid Malek, representing Mandiri, said the incident highlighted police officers’ lack of understanding of the Federal Constitution, particularly Article 10, which guarantees the right to peaceful assembly.

“It is a fundamental right of every Malaysian, but when people exercise this right, police intimidate them by shouting, behaving like gangsters and acting as if they are about to assault people for merely exercising their rights,” he said.

Zaid said they stated in their report that the policeman’s action constituted criminal offences under Sections 503 and 504 of the Penal Code, for criminal intimidation and insults with intent to breach the peace.

“The police intimidation was intended to prevent people from exercising their right to assemble, and was also a deliberate act to provoke tensions,” he said.

He also said that despite widespread media coverage after a video of the incident went viral, there had been no apology from the police, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail or Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Fellow lawyer Mahajoth Singh called on Saifuddin to state his position on the incident and take responsibility, saying it was “unacceptable for a minister to remain silent when an officer under his ministry has allegedly violated the law”.