Iranian Protest at UN Building (KPD/Wisma HELP)

Police Fire Teargas on 700 Iranians at Wisma UN (Update)

KUALA LUMPUR: Police fired teargas to disperse about 700 Iranians, mostly students, who had gathered outside Wisma UN in Jalan Semantan here to hand over a memorandum protesting developments in their homeland.

The Iranians had permission to gather outside the UN building at 2pm on Monday. They handed over the memorandum to a UN representative, voicing their grievances and dissatisfaction over the recent election in Iran.

A lone protestor stands while holding a banner aloft as Malaysian police fire tear gas into a group of Iranian students to disperse them after a rally outside the United Nations office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Monday. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the election last week amidst allegations of blatant vote-rigging from opposing candidate Mirhossein Mousavi and his supporters.

The memorandum called for the United Nations to not recognise the newly-formed government, and to establish a commission to investigate the truth behind the election.

Some of the Iranian protestors left after the memorandum was handed over, but most decided to stay on and stage a sit-in.

“Despite our warnings to disperse, they refused to budge,” said Brickfields OCPD Asst Comm of Police (ACP) Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Talib, adding that some wanted to give speeches.

“We refused to allow this because they did not have a permit,” he added.

“They continued shouting ‘Down with the dictator’ and ‘Where is my vote?’ and started singing the Iranian national anthem,” ACP Wan Abdul Bari said.

He said police were forced to fire teargas to disperse the crowd. Some of the protestors fled into the Wisma HELP carpark before dispersing peacefully.

There were also reports that police had fired a warning shot first.

ACP Wan Abdul Bari said that no one was injured during the incident and that no arrests were made.

The incident caused a massive traffic jam along Jalan Semantan.

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My thoughts:

Frankly, after viewing so many clips of the protest and read news about it, I'm feeling rather anxious right now. Anxious for the Iranians. On the other hand, as political as it can be, this incident truly made me realise of how real the so-called 'stories' can be in life - especially since this entire hullabaloo actually took place at the site of my very own university! (how I wished I could stay longer to witness it myself) Of course, the situation now involves much more Iranian political conspiracies and complications, and I would stand neutral about everything.

Bottomline is, as cliche this may sound, I feel real grateful that I have yet to experience such chaos in Malaysia, and hopefully I'll never have to. =P

Here's a video of the protest that took place, recorded by one of my HELP friends - Hamid! =) Do check it out, especially if you're a HELP student.




That's all for today!
Victoria