Torch security: Malaysia police personnel standing guard before the start of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay at the Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Police detained a British woman and a Japanese family who waved Tibetan flags at the start of the relay. Picture: AFP
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
MALAYSIAN police yesterday detained a British woman and a Japanese family who waved Tibetan flags at the start of the Olympic torch relay in Kuala Lumpur.
"A Japanese family and their son were waving a Tibetan flag when they were set upon by Beijing Olympic supporters in Independence Square," W Karthik, a senior police official in charge of security, said.
"They have been taken away to a police station for documentation (of their travel details)," he added.
Police said the Japanese family were still being held after some three hours and are being questioned as they were unable to produce their travel documents.
A reporter who witnessed the incident said the Chinese hit the adults and child with inflated plastic batons, shouting: "Taiwan and Tibet belong to China."
Police quickly intervened and took the family away from the angry Chinese.
Separately, Muhammad Sabtu Osman, Kuala Lumpur's police chief, said that a British woman was also picked up by police for holding a Tibetan flag.
"A British lady holding a Tibetan flag is being held by police.
We want to check her documentation," he said.
Authorities had beefed up security in tourist areas of the capital with a police helicopter flying above the city for the Olympic torch relay because of fears of possible disruption.
More than 1,000 police and other security forces had been deployed on the 165-kms route the torchbearers used to carry the flame to its main destination, the iconic Petronas Twin Towers.
The torch, symbol of the Beijing Games, is on the Asian stretch of a world tour that was severely disrupted in Europe and the United States by protesters complaining over China's rule in Tibet and its human rights record.AFP
"A Japanese family and their son were waving a Tibetan flag when they were set upon by Beijing Olympic supporters in Independence Square," W Karthik, a senior police official in charge of security, said.
"They have been taken away to a police station for documentation (of their travel details)," he added.
Police said the Japanese family were still being held after some three hours and are being questioned as they were unable to produce their travel documents.
A reporter who witnessed the incident said the Chinese hit the adults and child with inflated plastic batons, shouting: "Taiwan and Tibet belong to China."
Police quickly intervened and took the family away from the angry Chinese.
Separately, Muhammad Sabtu Osman, Kuala Lumpur's police chief, said that a British woman was also picked up by police for holding a Tibetan flag.
"A British lady holding a Tibetan flag is being held by police.
We want to check her documentation," he said.
Authorities had beefed up security in tourist areas of the capital with a police helicopter flying above the city for the Olympic torch relay because of fears of possible disruption.
More than 1,000 police and other security forces had been deployed on the 165-kms route the torchbearers used to carry the flame to its main destination, the iconic Petronas Twin Towers.
The torch, symbol of the Beijing Games, is on the Asian stretch of a world tour that was severely disrupted in Europe and the United States by protesters complaining over China's rule in Tibet and its human rights record.AFP