The organisers however say they will urge their friends to wear yellow and shop for yellow items at the KLCC this Saturday afternoon.
PETALING JAYA: The organisers of a protest campaign against the Peaceful Assembly Bill have been forced to change their activity from holding a flashmob to shopping for yellow items this Saturday after a legal threat from the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) management today.
The organisers of the Free to Assembly campaign were issued legal notice via Facebook today by lawyers representing the KLCC management, stating that they will be applying for a court injunction to stop the flashmob from taking place this Saturday.
KLCC management – which runs the Suria KLCC shopping complex and the KLCC Park – is claiming that the two previous protest gatherings by the opponents of the Peaceful Assembly Bill have disrupted business operations of the tenants ot KLCC.
The lawyers for the KLCC management added that it has come to their knowledge that another gathering is to be held this Saturday at the KLCC shopping centre and that this had raised concerns among the tenants.
The lawyers urged the organisers – seven of whom they had named in their legal letter – to immediately revoke their invitations to others to participate in the gathering.
They added that they have noted that so far 3,555 people have been invited through the Facebook and have urged the organisers to similarly uninvite these people from gathering.
The lawyers said that if the organisers failed to do so in 24 hours, they will then take all necessary action, including filing an application for an injunction to restrain the organisers from proceeding with the gathering on Saturday.
Organisers unmoved, to buy yellow items
However in an immediate reaction, the organisers said that they will not be stopped from gathering at a public place.
They also said that the attempt by the KLCC management was perhaps the first time in Malaysia, if not also the world, “where a flashmob is seen as a major threat that warrants a court injunction”.
“We reject completely the KLCC’s accusation that our gatherings in the KLCC could have had “eroded and impeded the regular shoppers and visitors and members of the public to the premises and thereby disrupted the business operations of [the KLCC’s] tenants”.
“None of the tenants operate in the KLCC Park. Rather than disrupting their businesses, our friends who attended have supported them by spending in the mall,” they said in a statement today.
The organisers said that they will not stop inviting their friends to gather public places, adding that they will not respond to the 24-hour notice by the KLCC.
“They may feel free to apply for court injunction,” said the organisers.
The organisers said that they will not be calling their gathering as a flashmob but instead will invite their friends to wear yellow and shop for yellow items at the KLCC this Saturday afternoon.
“Until proven wrong, we believe that Malaysians are also free to take photos with their yellow purchases in front of the beautiful Christmas trees in the KLCC at 2pm without police permits.
“The Saturday event is therefore renamed as ‘Malaysians Can Go Shopping & Pose with Xmas Trees without Police Permit’,” they said.
The organisers also said that they will continue to organise creative public gatherings to create awareness of the rigid rules of the Peaceful Assembly Bill.
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