In particular, it was joined by Himpunan Hijau (Green Assembly), a civil movement protesting the Lynas rare earth project in Malaysia.

PSC Committee member P. Kamalanathan said only one demand by Bersih, on a minimum 21 days campaign period, was not included because it was not suitable to be implemented in Sabah and Sarawak.

[6] Bersih claimed that PSC proposals were half-hearted and accused the Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) of being insincere in introducing electoral reforms.

[12][13] The rally was said to play a major role in helping the opposition parties make big gains in the 2008 general election.

[22] The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) supports the Bersih's right for a peaceful assembly.

[27] Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim has described the Bersih ("clean") rally as "dirty", saying they do not respect the laws of the country.

[31][32] The Malaysian police received an order from Kuala Lumpur Magistrate Court barring any entry by Bersih into Dataran Merdeka and any rally gathering there would be considered illegal.

[35][36] Saifuddin alleged that EC chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof is a member of Bunga Daisy UMNO branch under the Putrajaya division and his deputy, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar is a member of Kubang Bunggor UMNO branch under the Pasir Mas Kelantan Division.

[37] It turned out later that the Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof with the details as alleged by Saifuddin is a driver at the Prime Minister's Office whose name similar to the EC chairman.

[56] Rallies were organised in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, China, Taiwan (Taipei and Tainan), United States, Canada, Russia and various countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom; one of the largest of which was held in London, with smaller rallies being organised in Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, and Edinburgh.

Najib also claimed that the organizers are not concerned about fair and clean elections, that the rally was politically motivated, and that it was conducted by supporters of Pakatan Rakyat in an attempt to take over Putrajaya.

[59] In the aftermath of the protests, analysts said premier Najib Razak's reform credentials had been dented, forcing him to push back elections.

Some came in peace, but when it were hijacked by this group (opposition), I believe they also want us to take action and bring them to justice[68]A petition website were also made by Bersih supporters, dearambiga.com, which said in its introduction, We are angry.

[73][74] PKR Youth chief, Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin later denied that the opposition have hijacked the rally and accused UMNO as it were a part of it "propaganda strategy"[75] The Malaysian Bar, in its interim report on the gathering, said that words like sampah ('garbage') anjing ('dog') and anjing kurap ('mangy dog') were hurled at police and Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) who were on duty.

The opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim was caught on video near one of the police barricades talking to one of his colleagues in which critics allege that he was inciting supporters to push aside the barriers.

[77] The police force then used water cannons as well as fired tear gas towards the participants after repeated warnings to disperse were ignored.

[78] Other noted incidents are: According to an interim report by the Malaysian Bar Council, police brutality was widespread, with instances of savage beatings of civilians as well as arbitrary use of tear gas and water cannons.

[78] Home Minister, Hishammudin Hussein defend the police as "professional in controlling NGO rally ,supported by opposition which turn as a chaos"[88] Between 9.30 am and 2.30 pm, majority of Bar Council monitors observed the police force (including FRU team) appeared unperturbed by the participants, and some were courteous towards the participants.

[89] The peaceful rally later descended into chaos when police officers retaliated after the demonstrators removed the barbed wire and barriers at Dataran Merdeka and storm into the square, access to which was barred by a magistrate's court restraining order.

[78] Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar in a statement after the riots had pointed that the water cannon and tear gas was only fired to disperse rioters so that they will break through police barricades, an action which will make them breach the law, violate a court order and ignore the spirit of Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

[90] The Bar Council's report also noted that: The Bar Council further stated that the authorities had disregarded provisions within the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (UNBPUFF), the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (UNCC), and Amnesty International guidelines.

CIJ monitored articles in four newspapers – Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times, The Star and theSun – and showed between 90% and 60% drop in the volume of news coverage.

[101] The BBC issued a statement seeking explanation over the apparent doctoring of one of its news reports by the Malaysian satellite broadcaster Astro.

Astro admitted to censoring BBC's coverage but expressed disappointment with the global news channel for failing to understand that they did so to comply with local guidelines.