KUALA LUMPUR: Red Shirt movement leader Datuk Jamal Yunos today clarified that he did not intend to accuse the police of punching him during yesterday’s Red Shirt rally in Ampang.
“I was filled with emotion when it happened. I know in the video it sounds like I was accusing the police of punching me, but actually, I wanted to inform the police that I was punched.
“I meant to say ‘officers, I was punched’. But at the time, I was filled with so much emotion that the words came out wrong,” he told the New Straits Times.
Meanwhile, PKR Women chief Zuraida Kamaruddin has confirmed that she will lodge a police report against Jamal for accusing and threatening her, at the Ampang police station at 10am tomorrow.
“I will take legal action against him because my lawyers told me that we have a good case against Jamal. After that, we will lodge police reports nationwide.
“He is a wild and dangerous man and thinks he can do anything he pleases, therefore the police should take stern action against him,” she said.
Yesterday, during a Red Shirt rally at Ampang Point shopping mall, Jamal and his followers were protesting against Bersih demonstrators when a scuffle broke out between the two groups.
Witnesses say the police stepped in during the fracas and Jamal was left bleeding from his nose.
Based on several video recordings of the incident, Jamal is seen and heard shouting “the police punched me!” – but later claimed that he was punched by one of “Zuraida’s men.”
“I think he was in a lot of pain after he was punched, and that’s why he lost his senses and started accusing me,” Zuraida said.
Former Bersih 2.0 chairperson and lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasan expressed disappointment over the incident and stressed that Jamal is not taking the law seriously.
“He is making a fool of the law and the men in blue (the police) who are doing their utmost to maintain peace. Personally, I feel sorry for the police on the ground who have to deal with his nonsense,” she said.