E Contrario

On Monday December 17, with the assistance of Ranjit’s law firm, Razak and I filed a civil suit against the IGP and Malaysian Government. We claim damage for our illegal arrest that was done in a brutal and humiliating manner. (see press report in Malay Mail, the Star and Malaysiakini)

Thanks to the advance of the internet media, a true sequence of the event at the Parliament can be readily viewed.

Unfortunately for us, certain sections of the police demeaned themselves to become part of BN’s propaganda machine.

We also notice similarities in the way they concocted the scenario to paint a negative picture in order to tarnish peaceful assembly and rights defenders.

Remember how the NST ran the story of Kampong Berembang (March 9):

(Tian Chua) tried to ram his Toyota Camry through a gate after he was refused entry into a private property during the demolition of squatter houses in the area… The site supervisor who was welding the gate at the time fell to the ground and was pinned under the car. He was quickly pulled out and escaped serious injuries.

In the same mode, the NST on Dec 12 reported:

Tian Chua was the passenger in a green Proton Tiara that drove through the first police roadblock… Tian Chua refused to get out of the vehicle and had to be dragged out by policemen. In the melee, he allegedly bit a plainclothes policeman.

What the press failed to tell was what happened to Razak’s car:

The car was towed away by the police after both of us were arrested. The car had its engine turned off and its key was in Razak’s pocket. How on earth could it have caught fire and be burnt beyond recognition?