Cops may have broken law in rejecting Bersih venue notice
(TMI) – KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — The police may have violated provisions in the Peaceful Assembly Act 2011, which just came into force on Monday, by rejecting outright Bersih’s notification for this Saturday’s sit-in at the historic Dataran Merdeka in the capital city.
Putrajaya has approved the sit-in but both Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the police have rejected the April 28 rally, saying it posed a safety threat. The authorities have proposed Stadium Merdeka or other nearby stadiums but the electoral reform movement is insisting on Dataran Merdeka.
According to section 14 of the Act, the police must respond to Bersih’s notification within five days of receipt and following this, the assembly “shall” proceed. The new law does not expressly allow the police to reject the notification but says they can impose conditions and restrictions on the rally organisers, including on matters pertaining to the rally venue, time, date and others.
The police can only use its powers to arrest or disperse the rally if its organisers or participants violate these specific conditions, the Act says.
When this was pointed out to Datuk Ambiga Sreenavasan. the Bersih co-chair agreed that the police may have violated the law when it rejected the entire event outright on Monday, the day the Act had come into force.
“Yes, I agree… I do not think they have been specifically following the Act so they may have gone against the law. However, they could still use other provisions to catch us,” she told The Malaysian Insider when contacted yesterday.
The former Bar Council chairman also expressed suspicion in the sudden speed with which the just-passed law had come into force, just five days before Bersih’s planned assembly this Saturday.
“To be fair, it should have come into force much earlier. Why all of a sudden it was rushed?” she asked.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk V.K. Liew confirmed with The Malaysian Insider yesterday that the Act, often referred to as PAA2011, officially come into force on Monday.
Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/cops-may-have-broken-law-in-rejecting-bersih-venue-notice/
