Unruly scenes unfold in video clip

The unruly scenes that unfolded when an Umno Youth-led mob stormed into an international conference on East Timor in 1996 were brought to ‘life’ in the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

This happened after the plaintiffs’ 12th witness, television producer Anna Har, 39, showed a video recording on the incident, during her testimony today in the ongoing ‘Apcet II’ hearing.

Among the scenes recorded was that of members of the 400-strong mob, led by then Umno Youth secretary Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (right), trying to break down the door of the conference room.

Local conference participants were shown forming a human chain to protect the international participants after the mob successfully stormed into the room and made hard-hitting speeches condemning the conference as affecting ties between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Apart from Saifuddin, two other key Umno figures - Lokman Noor Adam and Rahim Ghouse - were identified among the mob members. Saifuddin, sacked by Umno in 1998, is now opposition PKR’s Machang MP.

In the first part of the 50-minute video clip, conference organising committee member R Sivarasa, now PKR’s Subang MP, was seen negotiating with mob leaders to allow participants to leave the conference room.

The second part of the clip is expected to be showed tomorrow when the hearing resumes.

To a question from judge Wan Adnan Muhamad, Har (far left in photo) said there was no police presence up till the point Sivarasa began negotiating with leaders of the mob.

She also said the clip was recorded with two video cameras, and that she was one of the videographers.

Har is among 36 activists and journalists who have filed a RM83 million suit against the government and police for wrongful detention and police negligence over the ‘Apcet II’ incident.

Why the police were late

Earlier explaining the police absence, the plaintiffs’ 11th witness Kua Kia Soong, 58, said he had been informed by police they were late due to a “traffic jam”.

Kua, who was tasked to receive guests and participants at the conference, said this under cross-examination by federal counsel Wan Roslan Wan Ismail.

He had testifed that the police only arrived an hour after the incident began.

Wan Adnan had the court in stitches when he sought clarification about the delay.

Kua: I asked OCPD Zainal (Abidin Ali, one of the four defendants) why the police took so long to arrive at the scene and he sort of said something about the traffic jam.

Wan Roslan: So you agree the police have explained to you why they were late?

Judge: But the police always have the siren on.

Wan Roslan: The motorists do not give way sometimes.

Judge: It’s an offence not to give way to a police car.

Kua, now New Era College principal, also said in his testimony that the Apcet II episode had affected his job and that he felt humiliated after being held in a “filthy cell” for five nights.

“I feel humiliated and embarrassed. I practically suffered a loss of dignity. The whole episode affected my job and caused a lot of anxiety to my family and myself,” he said in his witness statement.

“I felt that the precious time spent in remand was wasted. I was physically and emotionally drained throughout the whole episode.”

Another plaintiffs’ witness who took the stand this morning was Sharaad Kuttan, 42, who had been tasked with seeing to logistics at the conference. He was detained for a day.

Under cross-examination, he disagreed that the conference could have disrupted bilateral ties. He also said police had moved in to arrest participants before the two-minute dispersal warning had elapsed.

What happened at Apcet II

On Nov 9, 1996, over 100 people - including 10 journalists - were arrested on the opening day of the Second Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet II), held to discuss human rights abuses in East Timor and its struggle for independence from Indonesia.

As the conference was about to begin, 400 members from the Umno Youth-led BBRM, or Malaysia’s People’s Action Front, broke down the doors of the conference halls, threw chairs and verbally and physically abused the participants.

Police then moved in to arrest the participants, claiming they refused to disperse. The participants were detained between one and six days, while 40 foreign participants were deported.

Saifuddin, who is the star witness, has testified previously that the Umno Youth-led mob was acting on the instruction of then deputy home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob to stop the conference.

Malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran and editor-in-chief Steven Gan, both journalists at TheSun then, are among the plaintiffs.

Appearing for the plaintiffs today were Ranjit Singh, Abdul Rashid Ismail, Gregory Ling, HK Neoh and Jamie Wong.

Representing the government were senior federal counsel Iznan Ishak, federal counsel Khairul Nizam Kamal, Khairul Fazly Kamarudin and Wan Roslan.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO - The storming of Apcet II by Umno Youth

Part 1 l 10 min
Part 2 l 7 min

SPECIAL REPORT: Apcet II trial