PAS: Know your rights, read the little Red Book

PAS has urged the public to read up the Constitution so that they understand their rights if faced with arrests or subjected to any unconstitutional laws imposed by the government in the run-up to the Bersih rally on July 9.

“By understanding the Federal Constitution, the public will know when their rights guaranteed by the Constitution are violated,” PAS information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said.

This followed a statement by Home minister Hishamuddin Hussein and police chief Ismail Omar that it was an offence to wear Bersih 2.0 t-shirts and other paraphernalia related to the electoral reforms coalition.

"If the Bersih T-shirt is related to an illegal activity, then whatever they are wearing is illegal," said Hishamuddin, who added that police could detain anyone for just wearing the t-shirt. Making good its threat, more than 120 people have been arrested to date, including yesterday's arrest of Gopeng member of parliament Lee Boon Chye for wearing a yellow t-shirt that had nothing to do with Bersih.

Tuan Ibrahim described Hishamuddin’s statement as "completely lawless and unconstitutional", and said a similar 'ban' by the police on the July 9 rally was against Article 10(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution, as well as Article 20(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as pointed out by Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

The Pahang PAS commissioner suggested the “Red Book” and “MyConstitution” published by Bar Council to be consulted by the public so that they were equipped with the do's and don'ts in the event of an arrest.

“Please help to share information from the Red Book and the Federal Constitution and spread it in printed form, Facebook, email or Twitter to all your family members and friends," said Tuan Ibrahim, who added that police was merely executing orders imposed on them by Barisan Nasional leaders "who still have nightmares over the yellow sea of 2007 Bersih gathering".

- Harakahdaily