Cop heard cries: Stop assaulting me!

Chief Inspector Sazali Ahmad told the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court today that he heard PKR information chief Tian Chua telling police officers to stop assaulting him during a scuffle.

Sazali also revealed that one of his men, Constable Rosyaidi Annuar, had held Chua by the neck during the incident in front of the Parliament compound on Dec 11.

During cross examination by defense counsel Ranjit Singh, Sazali confirmed that he heard Chua crying out loud “Jangan pukul saya (Don’t assault me)” twice.

Ranjit: Do you know why Chua screamed loudly ‘Don’t assault me’?

Sazali: I don’t know.

Ranjit: Did you see Rosyaidi use his arm to assault Chua?

Sazali: No.

Ranjiat: In your testimony, you said Constable Rosyaidi told you that he was bitten by Chua. Did he tell you that he assaulted Chua?

Sazali: No.

Sazali also said that he did not ask his men stop the alleged assault.

Ranjit: When Chua cried loudly ‘Don’t assault me’, did you instruct your team members not to hit him?

Sazali: No because I didn’t see them hitting Chua.

Plainclothes officers

Sazali also established that more than three police officers, including Constable Rosyaidi and two of his men, had carried Chua from his vehicle to a police patrol car before being taken to the Kuala Lumpur police contingent (IPK KL) headquarters.

He said that the process, which involved police officers holding Chua up by all four limbs, took between 10 to 15 minutes. He however could not estimate how long he had a clear view of Chua.

While uncertain of the actual number of people carrying Chua, Sazali replied in the affirmative when Ranjit asked if Rosyaidi held Chua by the neck.

To another question, Sazali agreed when asked if Rosyaidi did not look like a police officer as he was in plainclothes with no obvious method of identification.

When answering questions by the prosecution on Wednesday, Sazali had told the court that he led a team of six officers from the IPK KL narcotics division during an operation in front of Parliament that day.

He said the purpose of the operation was to enforce a court order barring anyone from entering Parliament compound to have over a memorandum to protest the one-year term of service extension of Election Commission chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.

Chua, who was elected Kuala Lumpur's Batu MP, is charged under Section 32 of the Penal Code, with intentionally causing injury to a police personnel on duty. If found guilty, he can be fined, jailed up to three years or both.

The case is being heard before Magistrate Tasnim Abu Bakar. The hearing continues on May 19.