Saifuddin S Remark On Permission For Rally Defies Logic And Law Says Lawyer

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Protesters are expected to gather in front of the Sogo shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur before marching to Dataran Merdeka. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: The legal adviser of an anti-graft rally planned for this weekend has hit out at home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for saying that permission must be obtained to hold the gathering outside the Sogo department store in Kuala Lumpur, calling the remarks “ignorant and reckless”.
“It defies both logic and law,” Zaid Malek, the director of rights group Lawyers for Liberty, said in a statement.
“Following this absurd logic, no public gathering can take place in Malaysia so long as surrounding building owners object to it.”
Zaid also asked why the government should be so afraid of an anti-corruption rally “when they have made a boast of fighting corruption”.
Saifuddin told the Himpunan Rakyat Benci Rasuah secretariat yesterday that prior consent would be needed from Sogo for the rally to continue.
He said this when dismissing claims by the organisers that the condition set by the police had no legal basis and contravened the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012.
Zaid also said that the police had no power to declare an assembly unlawful, adding that the law only required that notice be given.
Even in the event of non-compliance with regards to the notice, it would not affect the right of anyone who wished to peacefully assemble, he said.
He said that in any event, the secretariat had fully complied with the PAA, and the matter of permission from the owner or occupier of the premises did not arise as the rally would be held in public space.
“The police and home minister are both deliberately ignoring the provisions of PAA,” he said. - FMT

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