Hundreds march against Peaceful Assembly Bill (Update)
(The Sun) – Members of the Malaysian Bar Council gathered to protest against the proposed Peaceful Assembly Bill (PAB) 2011 and to hand over an alternative to the government here today.
Some 600 lawyers and supporters convened at the Perdana Lake Gardens since 11am in preparation for the march to Parliament in protest against the bill.
Police have deemed illegal the event which has been dubbed as the “Walk for Freedom”.
The march that started around 12.15pm was led by Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee, vice president Christopher Leong and Human Rights lawyer Edmund Bon.
Traffic flow along Jalan Parliament was disrupted during the march.
Upon reaching Parliament where a barricade had been set up by the police, Bar Council office bearers were seen negotiating with the police who then agreed to let 10 members of the Bar into Parliament.
At the entrance to Parliament House, member of the Bar were met by opposition MPs including Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Nurul Izzah Anwar, Khalid Samad, Lim Lip Eng and Charles Santiago.
Also present were member from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including E.Nalini of Suaram, Irene Fenandez of Tenaganita, and former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenivasan.
The crowd chanting bebas! bebas! bebas himpun! (freedom to assemble), hidup rakyat (long live the people) and bebas rakyat! (free the people) were watched closely by about 100 uniformed police personnel stationed along the route.
