Thousands Attend Rally Protesting Fuel Price Hike - Bernama

PETALING JAYA, July 6 (Bernama) -- Supporters of opposition parties and extremist organisations Sunday defied orders by the authorities and joined a rally organised by the Coalition Against the Fuel Price Hike (Protes) at the Kelana Jaya Stadium here.

Many of the thousands of demonstrators, including supporters of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), wore red T-shirts and shouted anti-government slogans as they gathered to listen to speeches from their leaders from 10 am to midnight.

The presence of the police and other authorities around the stadium helped to ensure that the rally participants, some of whom were seen to be aggressive, did not resort to any mischief.

Nevertheless, the rally, carrying the theme "Protest of One Million People", forced the residents in the vicinity of the stadium to spend their Sunday "locked" in their homes for fear of their safety due to the presence of a large number of unidentified people in the area.

It is learnt that many of the rally participants who came from outside the Klang Valley had begun to gather at the stadium from as early as 5 am. The rally did not have a police permit.

Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said the police would continue to monitor the rally, particularly the speeches of the opposition party leaders.

"We will monitor their speeches to detect elements of sedition and, if they resort to such a thing, we will conduct an investigation under the Sedition Act," he said when met at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters, here.

He also said that the police had received not less than 10 telephone calls from residents in the vicinity of the stadium complaining about the rally.

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