KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — Police have summoned prominent lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan for questioning in connection with her support for a banned sexual rights event.
“I can confirm that Datuk Ambiga has been asked to go to Dang Wangi (police station) on Tuesday for questioning... in connection with Seksualiti Merdeka,” Bersih steering committee member Andrew Khoo told The Malaysian Insider today.
Ambiga (picture), chairman of outlawed electoral reform group Bersih, had earlier agreed to launch Seksualiti Merdeka on Wednesday.
She stressed, however, that she did not organise the event and had only agreed to officiate the festival as a private citizen and not as a representative of Bersih.
Seksualiti Merdeka, a movement championing the freedom for sexual orientation and gender identity, has been holding the festival annually since 2008 but sparked a heated debate after the government banned the celebration yesterday.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police were not against freedom of expression or human rights but had to step in because the organisers did not have a permit to hold the festival in public.
He also said the police had banned the event to safeguard public order after receiving several reports against Seksualiti Merdeka.
Khalid added the police were investigating the matter under section 298A of the Penal Code and section 27A(1)(c) of the Police Act and had linked Ambiga to the movement.
Yesterday, Malay rights group Perkasa and other Muslim NGOs held small protests against the event outside mosques in Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam, which they said insulted Islam as the religion of the country.
Perkasa later handed a memorandum to the Federal Territories Islamic Development Department office urging the religious body to obtain a court order to prevent the organisers of Seksualiti Merdeka from carrying out the event.
Seksualiti Merdeka’s organisers today called off all public events in the interests of participants’ safety as they seek a meeting to clarify the festival’s objectives to the Inspector-General of Police.
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