Psm Asks Cops Dbkl To Explain Permit Demand For Youth Reading Event

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PSM today called on authorities to justify their actions in dispersing a group of young people during a public reading session at Dataran Merdeka last weekend, where officials allegedly cited a lack of a proper permit.
ADSIn a statement today, the party’s central committee member N Gandipan said that the police and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) must also cease interfering with intellectual activities in public spaces in future.
“PSM wishes to emphasise that it is citizens’ right to assemble, discuss and conduct intellectual activities without permits in public spaces such as Dataran Merdeka.
“Police’s demand for a notification letter for reading and discussion activities has no legal basis and violates constitutional rights,” Gandipan said, adding that the presence of a large number of police officers and DBKL officials to halt the event is a form of intimidation against youths.
Gandipan noted the glaring contradiction between this incident and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s impassioned appeal to young people at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Festival (PBAKL) in 2023, to embrace reading seriously.
PSM central committee member N Gandipan“It is a rather concerning irony if such expressions merely serve as decoration, whilst young people who heed this call are monitored and obstructed by enforcement officers,” he added.
Confrontation
The National Youth Federation (NYF) on Monday said that approximately a dozen police officers and DBKL staff confronted participants at their reading and discussion gathering at Dataran Merdeka last Saturday, insisting they obtain police authorisation for the activity.
According to NYF’s Instagram post, the 9pm programme was to make full use of public spaces to promote a culture of reading and discussion on national issues.
The group claimed that the officers, most of whom were in plainclothes, had ordered them to end the programme and disperse at 10pm without providing a clear legal basis for the instruction.
“The large presence of law enforcement officers and their cold treatment of intellectual and educational activities is a form of intimidation.
“We believe that reading, discussing, and using a public space peacefully should not be treated like a crime. Intellectual culture must be promoted instead of harassed,” the group stressed.
An organiser for the youth reading event speaking to an unidentified officer at Dataran Merdeka on Sunday nightThe Dang Wangi district police chief yesterday denied claims that officers from his department were involved in halting the reading gathering, Scoop reported.
The news portal quoted Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman, stating he could not identify any personnel depicted as law enforcement officers from Dang Wangi in the widely circulated social media images.
He reportedly suggested that the individuals in question might belong to the special branch or alternative police units. - Mkini

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