Pre-rally arrests: Lawyer lodges police report, warns civil suit against govt

 

Lawyer Hanif Khatri Abdulla has threatened a civil suit against the police, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, and the federal government.

He said this following the police’s decision to disallow and halt the Gerakan Anti-Rumah Anutan Haram (Garah) rally, initially scheduled to take place in front of the Sogo Shopping Complex on Feb 7, and the subsequent detention of 20 individuals before the event began.

Hanif (above), who is also Garah’s interim chief, said the action included his own arrest.

“I will file a civil action against all the parties I have named, including the police, the Inspector-General of Police (Khalid Ismail), the home minister, and the prime minister.

“Our first complaint is that the police abused their power in stopping a lawful, peaceful assembly and then detained prospective participants and speakers.

“Why do I say ‘prospective’? Because the assembly had not even started yet. Not a single word or sentence had come out of anyone’s mouth,” he told reporters after lodging a police report at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Earlier, Malaysiakini reported that Garah coordinator Zamri Vinoth and co-organiser Tamim Dahri Abdul Razak were detained along with 18 others before the rally took place.

Zamri Vinoth during the rally

Hanif, who was also detained, confirmed that Zamri and Tamim were held for remand proceedings, while the others were released on police bail.

Police began detaining participants in the vicinity of the Sogo Shopping Complex as early as 8pm on Feb 7.

Police personnel, including riot control officers, were seen stationed around Sogo and Masjid Jamek Kampung Baru to prevent the public from gathering.

‘Violated constitutional right’

Elaborating, Hanif said the police report alleged that the authorities had violated the constitutional right to assemble and failed to comply with obligations under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, which provides for the role of authorities in facilitating peaceful assemblies.

“This police report is also against the country’s top leadership, including but not limited to the prime minister and home minister, whose direct and indirect actions caused improper interference in the police force, leading to direct or indirect instructions to stop the assembly and carry out detentions and arrests,” he said.

The lawyer also alleged that several parties had issued statements portraying the rally as an attempt to incite racial and religious tension, whereas he said the movement’s objective was to demand adherence to the rule of law in relation to alleged land encroachment and the construction of places of worship without approval.

Rally on Feb 7

“Thirdly, this complaint also concerns several other parties who, since Garah announced on Feb 3 that a peaceful assembly would be held on Feb 7, have issued statements.

“Since then, several parties - including Pusat Komas, the Malaysian Indian People's Party Youth, and Jelutong MP RSN Rayer - have made statements accusing the Garah movement and the purpose of the rally of seeking to create chaos and incite people to commit unlawful acts, without examining the true objectives of the movement and the assembly,” he said.

Hanif stressed that Garah is not targeting any religion or race, but is instead calling for consistent enforcement of the law against all structures allegedly built illegally on public or private land. - Mkini