Judge wants Hisham to clarify Bersih 2.0 ban

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has sought further clarification from Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on the outlawing of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) last year.

This follows Hishammuddin's change of stand in allowing the Bersih 3.0 rally as it is not a security threat, when before the July 9 rally last year, he had declared the coalition to be an illegal organisation.

Justice Rohana Yusof sought the clarification from senior federal counsel Azizan Md Arshad and ordered the minister to file an affidavit on the matter by May 10.

She will deliver her decision on May 15 on Bersih's application to cross-examine Hishammuddin and Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar, and to obtain the 1,706 police reports that were filed against the coalition before last year’s rally.

Lawyer Aston Paiva, who is representing Bersih in challenging the government ban, said this when speaking to journalists after he and Azizan met the judge in chambers.

Aston said the judge had sought the explanation in light of recent developments which she had read in newspapers and media reports quoting the minister with regard to the Bersih 3.0 rally scheduled for Saturday.

"The directive by the minister is to ban the Bersih organisation. There is no mention of Bersih 2.0 in the minister's order," he said.

"The judge is also concerned about the main application by Bersih to challenge the minister's order dated July 1 last year."

[More to follow]