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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysians protest against internal security laws |
| 2009-08-02 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannons Saturday at more than 15,000 demonstrators who took to the streets to protest against controversial internal security laws. In chaotic scenes in downtown Kuala Lumpur, some 5,000 police including riot squads arrested scores of protesters as they gathered at rallying points across the city including two mosques and a shopping complex. Deputy police chief Ismail Omar said that 175 people had been arrested for taking part in the protest, aimed at pressuring the government to abolish laws that allow for detention without trial. "We just wanted to disperse them, so we used water cannon and tear gas to do that," he told AFP, insisting the police action was not heavy-handed. |
| Posted by:Fred |