TMI: Liow orders probe into Tung Shin hospital incident

Liow orders probe into Tung Shin hospital incident

UPDATED @ 11:25:57 PM 14-07-2011

July 14, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — The Health Ministry will now investigate whether tear gas and water cannon was fired at the Tung Shin Hospital during the Bersih rally on Saturday following differing accounts from the police and eyewitnesses, minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said tonight

He said that a high-level committee headed by Health Ministry secretary-general Datuk Kamarul Zaman Md Isa will conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident at the hospital in the capital city as patient security and hospital safety was paramount.

“This will clear the contradictions in various statements made by different parties over the last few days,” Liow (picture) said in the statement.

The Tung Shin Hospital board had on Monday informed Liow that no tear gas canisters and water cannons were fired directly into the hospital compound during Saturday’s illegal rally but numerous eye witness accounts have alleged otherwise. A group of medical consultants had written to the media saying the police and hospital versions of the incident were wrong.

“Members of the public who witnessed the incident can come forward to assist the inquiry. Those who wish to remain unidentified can choose to do so,” Liow said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in London today that police took only mild action in the security crackdown against the Bersih rally calling for free and fair elections on July 9.

In the days following the alleged incursion Liow's party leader Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, a former health minister himself, said the police had to fire tear gas near Tung Shin Hospital to protect its patients from Bersih 2.0 protesters who had sought refuge there.

The MCA president said the situation should be viewed “in totality”, pointing out that the police would be accused of not doing their job had they decided against dispersing the crowd of protesters that had run into the hospital.

Liow also has that shots from the water cannons had only brushed the edges of the hospital walls. The police have also denied shooting directly into the hospital compounds after protesters had sought refuge there.

However the declaration by the doctors has placed both the government, the health ministry in particular, and the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in a difficult situation. 

On Saturday, the Bersih rally protesters who were heading to Stadium Merdeka were pegged back by police in various spots in the city through a series of roadblocks and police-lines. A significant portion of the protesters were forced-in on the stretch from Puduraya to Bangunan Magnum on Jalan Pudu. Tung Shin Hospital is located within this stretch.

Repeated police action in releasing tear gas and water cannons on the protesters forced a section of the protesters into the hospital compound. A large number of personal accounts and video loaded up on the Internet support that the police did fire into the hopital compound before sending in their personnel to apprehend the protesters.