UMNO does not condone Jamal's beer-smashing stunt - Ahmad Zahid

UMNO does not condone the beer-smashing stunt of the party's Sungai Besar Division chief Datuk Seri Jamal Md Yunos, UMNO vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

"We do not sanction his doing. He is also the chairman of an NGO. Yes, he is one of our Ketua Bahagian (division chiefs). One out of 191, the other 190 do not smash anything," said Ahmad Zahid who is also discharging the duties of the UMNO deputy president.

Ahmad Zahid, who is the Deputy Prime Minister, responded thus when asked about the action of Jamal, the chairman of the Red Movement NGO Coalition Malaysia, after he had opened the 10th ASEAN Ministers Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, here.

Jamal and seven other men were arrested at 1.45 am today in Sekinchan, Selangor, over the smashing of crates of beer bottles yesterday in front of the Selangor State Secretariat building.

READ: Jamal, seven other men held over smashing of beer bottles

At about 10 am yesterday, Jamal and the coalition members brought 10 cartons containing 100 bottles of beer to the State Secretariat building to protest against attempts to hold a beer festival in Selangor.

Jamal then used a large hammer to smash the beer bottles at the main entrance of the building.

He is reported to have resorted to that action after Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali reportedly said that the German food and beverage festival scheduled to take place at a supermarket in Klang next week could only be approved if the organisers fulfilled the terms and conditions, including those outlined by the Klang Municipal Council (MPK).

-- BERNAMA