The Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud clearly has no intention of allowing the democratic process to get in the way of his election chances. Sarawak Report has obtained exclusive video material showing how police were sent in to prevent the opposition PKR leader Baru Bian from addressing a peaceful gathering of people from his own constituency. We have also learnt that Taib has sent out a disgraceful directive instructing police to deny permits for any opposition gatherings!
The incident happened in Baru’slocal main town of Lawas. An invited gathering of party members and constituents had joined him at the Sin Yang coffee shop to take food and listen to his vision of a better future. These key constituents wanted to listen to his messages and ideas in order to bring them back to their own communities and longhouses. PKR party workers had, as usual, applied for a permit for the sit-down gathering, but as usual the permit had been denied.
“The police just said no. They gave no reason” explained Paul Bian, Baru’s Campaign Coordinator.

Our orders are from the Top!
PKR officials say they felt they had no choice but to proceed with the meeting. “By refusing us a permit they were interfering in our democratic rights” continued Paul, who is Baru’s brother and a long-term political ally of the human rights lawyer. He went on:
“Our rights have been denied. This is a democratic country and everyone has a right to give their opinions and a right to meet together and give the information that we can’t give to the people any other way. We in the opposition are not given any media coverage”

Peaceful and seated gathering, soon to be disrupted by police who feared to let Bian speak

Baru Bian, who has shaken Taib’s authority on numerous occasions over the past two years by winning a series of crucial land rights cases on behalf of communities fighting against the Chief Minister’s land grabs, only just missed out on winning the seat at the last election in 2006, despite enormous odds. At that time Bian started legal proceedings which detailed a long list of corrupt practices used by BN to win the seat by just 200 votes. These included bribery and vote-rigging. Taib-controlled judges, of course, immediately dropped the case on the excuse of ’ legal technicalities’.
PKR rightfully believe that Bian should have the absolute freedom to speak to his people, who are from his native area. They say the fact that Taib is resorting to such dirty tactics and abusing the authority of the police at such an early stage in the election is a sure sign that he is fearful that opinion in Sarawak has turned firmly against his authoritarian government. His 30 years in power have brought great wealth to his family, but only poverty for the longhouse people, whose lands he has taken for timber and oil palm.

Peaceful gathering was threatened by police provocation
Witnesses say that the guests to the event started arriving at around 7 oclock in the evening and sat down to enjoy some initial refreshments. Many of the several hundred people who turned out to listen to Baru Bian had travelled very long distances from the longhouses. It had been raining all day and the journey in some cases took several hours, but they had been undeterred. According to one report received by Sarawak Reports, some poorer people, who had come the day before, had had to sleep out in the open.

Police start to surround the event and turn away guests

By 7.15 pm, according to the organisers, a substantial contingent of local police officers had started to arrive. In all witnesses say there were around 20 uniformed police and another ten plain clothes officers from Special Branch. Their presence cast a threatening shadow over the meeting and they started turning away later arrivals and surrounded the building. Paul Bian explains how his original plan had been to show a video to the people at the beginning of the meal – it was an information film about Baru and his mission and policies for transforming Sarawak into a fairer society. However, the police prohibited the showing of the film.
“We appealed that there is no other way to communicate. We explained that we dont get media coverage or newspaper coverage or TV coverage, so couldn’t they just let us show this?” says Paul. “The police boss was sympathetic, but he replied that he was taking orders “from the top”! that means either the Police Chief or the party bosses”
Bian had originally lined up three interesting speakers to address the gathering, “I had the community leader Pemanch Jenging anak Radin, who has defected from BN after his land was grabbed and also Abun Sui, the land rights lawyer who has won key cases in the area and last it was to be Baru Bian”. However, with the police pressure mounting he says he decided to cut straight to the key content of the meeting and the speech from Baru Bian.

Not allowed

A hand on your shoulder Tuan!

As our video shows how Baru had hardly got to his feet before the police marched up to him and “placed a hand on his shoulder”. There was a policeman on either side of him and five had followed behind to where he was standing, according to Bian. They told him he was “not allowed” to speak. Witnesses say it was a frightening moment because members of the crowd became angry.
“We are a thousand so its 30 to one!” was one of the cries, explains Bian.
For this reason, as the video shows, Baru took responsible action in circumstances where a large frustrated gathering could have taken their anger out on the police. He calmed the crowd and encouraged them to understand that it was better to cooperate with the police, rather than to allow the danger of violence breaking out and someone getting hurt. Without Baru’s diplomatic leadership the event could have degenerated, because of the unnecessary provocation of the police. For these reasons the angry crowd were forced to return back to their longhouses without having been allowed their democratic right to hear their local candidate!

Borneo Convention Centre - laughably designed to look like a leaf in deference to the environment!

Meanwhile, on March 5th Taib Mahmud plans to hold his own Party Convention rally for 5 thousand people in the Borneo Convention Centre in Kuching, for which it will be no surprise to learn the BN party had no problems in obtaining a police permit! Sarawak Report assumes that none of the speakers at the rally will be referring to the corruption surrounding the building of the Borneo Convention Centre, which was commissioned by the Chief Minister and handed to the company PPES works, which is the ”construction arm” of his own family company CMS! Heading the Board of Directors of CMS is Taib’s own son, the youthful and fashionable Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, who is also the largest shareholder. Until her death the previous largest shareholder of this multi-million ringgit concern, which is quoted as a public company, used to be his Mum, Laila Taib! Her husband (his Dad), the Chief Minister has consistently channelled most of the top state contracts through his own family company for the past 3 decades. For this reason the share price of the company has shot up in past months in anticipation of all the money the government is saying it will be spending on SCORE projects!

Backfired

PKR say that the discriminatory and anti-democratic behaviour of the current government on this and other matters is clearly proving to be counter-productive. “The people were not intimidated, but they were angry”, says Paul Bian. “This event opened the minds of the people to what is going on and it made them very, very bitter. Since this event Baru Bian has been getting more and more offers to come and speak to villages in the region. They say ‘come speak to us any time’. This has not made them scared, it has made them become more resolute against the malpractices”. BN may yet discover that disappointing and angering the electorate is no way to go about winning elections. People are concluding that BN fears the opposition leader so much they dare not let the people hear him speak!

POLIS MENUTUP MULUT BARU BIAN – VIDEO EKSLUSIF!
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011 GMT This post is also available in: English
Ketua Menteri, Taib Mahmud, dengan jelas dan ketaranya menafikan proses demokrasi digunakan menjelang pilihanraya yang semakin hampir. Sarawak Report telah memperolehi beberapa bahan video secara eksklusif yang menunjukkan bagaimana anggota polis dikerah untuk menghalang ketua PKR Baru Bian dari berucap di hadapan umum di kawasan pilihanrayanya sendiri. Kami juga difahamkan bagaimana Taib telah mengeluarkan arahan kepada pihak polis untuk menafikan kebenaran mengadakan perhimpunan kepada pihak-pihak pembangkang! Sungguh memalukan! Kejadian tersebut berlaku di pekan kelahiran Baru Bian, iaitu di Lawas, Sarawak. Ahli-ahli parti dan juga para penyokong yang dijemput ke perhimpunan yang diadakan di kedai kopi Sin Yang di mana mereka akan menjamu selera sambil mendengar ucapan-ucapan mengenai kecerahan masa depan mereka. Para penyokong dari kawasan pilihanraya tersebut hadir untuk mendengar mesej-mesejnya dan seterusnya akan membawa pulang mesej-mesej ke rumah-rumah panjang mereka. Seperti lazimnya, sebelum mereka mengadakan sebarang perhimpunan, mereka telah terlebih dahulu memohon kebenaran, tetapi seperti biasa juga, kebenaran sedemikian tetap dinafikan. “Pihak polis tetap mengatakan tidak. Mereka tidak memberikan sebarang alasan” jelas Paul Bian, Penyelaras Kempen untuk Baru.

Kami menerima arahan dari orang atasan!
Para pekerja PKR mengatakan mereka tiada pilihan lain tetapi meneruskan perhimpunan tersebut. “Dengan menafikan kebenaran kami berhimpunan mereka telah menafikan hak-hak demokrasi kami” tambah Paul, yang juga saudara kepada Baru dan juga rakan politik kepada peguam hak asasi kemanusiaan itu. Paul menambah: “Hak-hak kami telah dinafikan. Negara ini adalah negara demokrasi dan setiap rakyatnya berhak memberikan pandangan dan berhak berkumpul untuk menyampaikan maklumat yang tidak dapat kami sampaikan dengan cara lain. Kami di pihak pembangkan tetap tidak mendapat sebarang liputan media” Baru Bian, yang telah menggegarkan kewibawaan Taib pada beberapa siri perbicaraan berkenaan dengan kes-kes persengketaan tanah-tanah NCR, mewakili pelbagai komuniti, menentang Ketua Menteri itu, hanya mendapati dirinya kalah pada pilihan 2006. Pada masa itu Baru Bian telah memulakan prosiding yang menyenaraikan amalan-amalan rasuah yang digunakan oleh BN untuk memenangi kerusi berkenaan hanya dengan majority 200 undi sahaja. Amalan-amalan dalam prosiding tersebut termasuklah rasuah dan pembelian undi. Namun, para hakim yang dikawal oleh Taib telah menolak kes tersebut dengan alasan ‘masalah-masalah teknikal perundangan’. PKR merasakan Baru Bian seharusnya bebas untuk bercakap dengan orang-orang dari daerah kelahirannya. Menurut mereka lagi, Taib telah menggunakan taktik-taktik yang amat kotor di samping menyalahgunakan kewibawaan polis pada peringkat awal pilihanraya, yang menampakkan rasa takutnya bahawa Sarawak kini kian bangkit terhadap kerajaan autoritariannya. Kekuasaannya selama 30 tahun telah mendatangkan kekayaan kepada keluarganya, tetapi sebaliknya telah menyebabkan kemiskinan dan kesengsaraan ke atas orang-orang rumah panjang yang telah dirampasnya tanah untuk dijadikan kawasan pembalakan dan ladang-ladang kelapa sawit.

Perhimpunan secara aman telah diancam oleh provokasi anggota polis
Saksi-saksi mengatakan para tetamu ke perhimpunan tersebut telah tiba seawal pukul 7 malam itu dan menikmati minuman ringan. Kebanyakan tetamu yang hadir untuk mendengar ucapan Baru Bian telah datang melalui perjalanan yang jauh dari rumah panjang mereka di pedalaman. Keadaan cuaca menjelang perhimpunan itu adalah kurang baik dan keadaan jalan yang mereka lalui juga kurang baik telah mengambil masa berjam-jam lamanya, tetapi mereka tetap juga berusaha menghadirkan diri. Menurut laporan yang diterima oleh Sarawak Report, ada di kalangan mereka yang kurang di segi pendapatan telah datang sehari sebelum perhimpunan itu, dan telah terpaksa bermalam di kawasan terbuka di sekitar pekan Lawas. Pada kira-kira pukul 7.15 malam itu, menurut para pengelola perhimpunan, sepasukan anggota polis tempatan telah tiba. Para saksi mengatakan seramai 20 anggota berpakaian seragam polis mana kala kira-kira sepuluh orang lagi anggota Cawangan Khas berpakaian biasa. Kehadiran pihak polis telah menghambarkan perhimpunan itu dan ada di kalangan pengunjung mulai meninggalkan premis berkenaan. Paul Bian menjelaskan bagai mana rancangan awalnya adalah untuk menayangkan video kepada orang ramai di awal perhimpunan itu – sebuah filem maklumat mengenai Baru Bian dan misinya serta dasar-dasar transformasinya untuk Sarawak. Tetapi pihak polis telah menghalang Paul untuk berbuat demikian.

“Kami merayu kerana kami tiada cara lain untuk berkomunikasi. Kami menjelaskan kami tidak mendapat sebarang liputan media suratkhabar atau TV, kenapakah mereka menghalang kami menayangkan video kami ini?” kata Paul. “Ketua pasukan polis itu menunjukkan rasa simpatinya, tetapi dia memberikan alasan bahawa dia menerima arahan daripada “pihak atas”! yang mungkin bermakna Ketua Polis atau bos-bos parti politik”. Pada mulanya Bian telah menyediakan tiga orang speaker untuk berucap pada perhimpunan itu, “Saya telah menjemput ketua kaum, Pemancha Jenging Anak Radin, yang telah meninggalkan BN kerana mendapati tanahnya dirampas dan juga peguam tanah hak NCR, Abun Sui, yang pernah memenangi kes-kes utama di kawasan itu, dan akhir sekali Baru Bian”. Namun, dengan tekanan dari pihak polis maka dia telah menyingkatkan masa berhimpun dengan hanya menyuruh Baru Bian sahaja untuk berucap.

Tidak dibenarkan
Berdasarkan video kami di sini Baru telah didatangi oleh anggota polis yang “meletakkan tangan pada bahunya”. Terdapat juga anggota polis di sebelah kiri dan kanannya. Mereka menyatakan padanya bahawa dia “tidak dibenarkan” berucap. Ada di kalangan saksi mengatakan bahawa kejadian tersebut amat menakutkan, kerana para tetamu telah menjadi semakin marah dengan tindakan polis itu. “Kita ini ramai, jadi kita tentang mereka 30 lawan satu!” jerit salah seorang dari pengunjung ketika itu, jelas Bian. Maka oleh yang demikian, seperti yang terdapat pada video itu, Baru telah memutuskan untuk bertanggungjawab bagi meredakan perasaan marah para pengikutnya. Baru Bian telah memujuk para pengikutnya untuk bersabar dan memahami bahawa mereka perlu memberikan kerjasama kepada polis. Tanpa kepimpinan diplomatik Baru, perhimpunan tersebut mungkin akan bertukar menjadi peristiwa yang buruk, hanya kerana perhimpunan tersebut telah diprovokasikan oleh pihak polis. Sebab inilah pengunjung yang marah telah terpaksa pulang ke rumah-rumah panjang mereka setelah hak demokratik mereka untuk hadir dan mendengar ucapan dari calon tempatan mereka dinafikan!
Sementara itu, pada tanggal 5hb Mac akan datang, Taib Mahmud akan mengadakan perhimpunan partinya untuk 5 ribu orang di Borneo Convention Center di Kuching, di mana kita takkan berasa hairan parti BN akan dengan mudah mendapat kebenaran polis untuk berhimpun! Sarawak Report menjangkakan tidak seorang pun dari para speaker yang berucap pada masa itu nanti akan menyentuh tentang amalan rasuah yang menyelubungi pembinaan Borneo Convention Center tersebut, yang telah mendapat restu dari Ketua Menteri dan dianugerahkannya kepada syarikat PPES Works, yang juga selaku “pakar binaan” kepada syarikat CMS milik keluarganya! Mengetuai Lembaga Pengarah CMS adalah anak lelaki Taib sendiri, Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, yang juga merupakan pemegang utama saham-saham dalam syarikat itu. Sehingga saat kematiannya, maka saham-saham arwah Abu Bekir telah berpindah kepada ibunya, Laila Taib. Suami arwah Laila pula, iaitu Ketua Menteri telah, secara konsisten, menyerahkan banyak kontrak utama negeri ini kepada syarikat CMS di sepanjang 3 dekad. Maka dengan inilah harga saham CMS telah melonjak secara mendadak dalam beberapa bulan kerana menjangkakan kebanyakan wang negeri akan digunakan dalam projek-projek SCORE! Menurut pihak PKR, amalan anti-demokratik pihak kerajaan dalam perkara berkenaan dan juga perkara-perkara lain telah menunjukkan bahawa kerajaan bersikap ‘counter-productive’. “Orang-orang ini bukannya takut, tetapi mereka merasa marah”, kata Paul Bian. “Kejadian ini telah membuka mata orang-orang ini akan apa yang sedang berlaku, dan peristiwa ini adalah pahit bagi mereka. Sejak kejadian ini, Baru Bian telah mendapat banyak undangan untuk mengadakan perhimpunan dan ceramah di kampung-kampung di daerah ini. Mereka kata ‘datanglah ke tempat kami untuk berceramah’. Kejadian itu telah menjadikan mereka lebih berani menentang amalan-amalan tidak sihat pihak kerajaan itu”. BN akan faham bahawa dengan mengecewakan dan mencetuskan kemarahan orang ramai di sesuatu kawasan pilihanraya bukanlah suatu cara yang bijak untuk memenangi pilihanraya. Orang awam akan mengandaikan bahawa BN kini takut kepada ketua pembangkang justeru mereka tidak akan membenarkan orang awam mendengarnya berucap!