Bar Council hands memo on peaceful assembly to Parliament (Update)
By Regina Lee, The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: The Bar Council led by its president Lim Chee Wee on Tuesday handed a memorandum to Parliament on the council’s objections to the Peaceful Assembly Bill.
Lim and nine other lawyers were allowed into the Parliament building where they handed the document to Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong.
Among others, the Bar Council wanted the bill to go through a Parliamentary Select Committee to enable further deliberation and public consultation.
Lim said they will continue to protest against the bill even when it is passed by Parliament in its current form.
“In times of controversy and challenge, we will rise up and walk to uphold the rule of law and the constitution,” he told reporters.
“We were consulted by the Attorney-General several weeks ago on the bill but the version that was tabled was very different,” he said.
Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee chairman Syahredzan Johan called the provisions ‘ridiculous’. “We are here to say no to the Peaceful Assembly Bill in its current form,” he said.
Earlier, hundreds of members and activists had gathered at the Lake Gardens before walking the 2km to Parliament House.
Among them were Bersih chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan, Seri Andalas assemblyman Xavier Jeyakumar, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne, Sibu MP Wong Ho Leng, PKR’s N Surendran and Latheefa Koya, and PAS central committee member Hanipa Maidin.
There were shouts of “freedom for the people” and “freedom to assemble”.
Police trucks and cars were stationed along Jalan Parlimen as policemen keep watch on the situation. Scores of policemen, including the light strike force staff, stood guard at the entrance of Parliament House.
Police have declared the gathering as illegal.
The march started at about 12.20pm and as the group arrived at the Parliament entrance, another group of about 100 people from Pertubuhan Putra Malaysia sprung up to protest against “free sex” in the country.
PPM spokesperson Zainal Abidin Ariffin said they were there to protest against “free and wanton sex” and homosexuality.
The situation got noisier when the two groups their took positions on both sides of the road leading to Parliament House, separated by scores of policemen. Some of them started a shouting match.
