Battle of Permatang Pauh begins… by Bernard Cheah and Karen Arukesamy
SEBERANG PERAI (Aug 4, 2008) : A 25-year-old female press photographer was roughed up by some PKR officials while attempting to take pictures of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at a ceramah here on last night. Loh Hoay Hoon of Guang Ming Daily was punched, kicked and held by the neck in the event at the Seberang Jaya expo grounds here.
 | | An ugly scuffle breaks out between PKR youths at
Anwar's ceramah after a group of PKR youths attacked a
Chinese media photographer. Sunpix by Masry Che Ani. | |
"I was bewildered and confused," Loh told theSun today. "All I was doing was taking some shots of Anwar before he left the grounds. I don’t understand why they had attack me like this," she said, choking with tears and still visibly traumatised.
Loh received outpatient treatment at the Seberang Jaya Hospital later, before lodging a report at the Seberang Jaya police station at about 3.15am.
She was taken to the hospital again for an additional check-up late this afternoon.
Loh said afterr the ceramah had ended, she wanted a few shots of Anwar getting into his car.
However, an unidentified man, believed to be an Anwar bodyguard, stopped Loh and pushed her aside, she said.
"I told the man ‘saya hanya buat kerja saya’ (I'm just doing my work)," she said.
She remembered hearing something like "Jangan kacau, jangan buat susah di sini." (Don't disturb, don't cause trouble here.)
Then she found herself being hit and held by the neck by the man and several others, as she was leaving the grounds.
A few other PKR members then tried to hold back the man, apparently to restrain him.
A scuffle then broke out, as the group that attacked Loh and the one that helped her shoved each other and traded insults.
Loh said she was also hit on the back of her head by an unknown assailant.
She said she had had an untoward incident with the same man earlier this year, and had complained to PKR state secretary Abdul Malek Abul Kassim.
"Some reporters have also been pushed by the same individual."
Penang Media Club acting president Zuraida Abdul Rahman condemned the incident.
"All we want to do is just report what happens at a ceramah as it is."
Abdul Malek expressed regret over the behaviour of the official, adding that stern action would be taken by the party to prevent a recurrence.
He explained that security had to be beefed up as there were death threats made against Anwar.
Most party officials who act as guards were PKR members and not trained professionals, he added.
"We really appreciate the job done by members of the media in giving us coverage," he stressed
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) president Norila Mohd Daud also condemned the Seberang Perai incident, saying that some members of PKR had become over-protective of Anwar and nobody knows "what is their reason or what is the stand of the party."
On July 15, during the televised debate between Anwar and Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, three photographers were roughed up by security personnel hired by AgendaDaily, the organiser of the debate.
Police reports were lodged, but there has been no response from the police.
TheEdge executive producer Othman Abu Bakar, whose photographer was one of those assaulted, said so far they had been questioned by police on what happened. He wants the police to look into the matter.
ARTICLES SOURCE: http://www.thesundaily.com
