Hawkers being probed under Peaceful Assembly Act

The police are investigating the group of 20 - who claimed to be hawkers at the Esplanade victimised by the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) - under Section 9(1) of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA).

The section deals with procedural compliance of organisers who are urged to notify the police of their events 10 days in advance.

Georgetown OCPD Gan Kon Meng said the probe included those whovandalised the official car of the state government which ferried Komtar assemblyperson Ng Wei Aik on the night of the protest.

“We will probe those involved in vandalising Ng’s car under Section 427 of the Penal Code which deals with vandalism,” said Gan when asked about the matter.

When asked to comment further on whether anyone has been hauled up for questioning or arrest, Gan declined to respond.

The protest, held outside a public hall on Jalan Pattani during the state DAP’s Hari Raya open house on the night of Sept 4, saw the group turning emotional and hitting the cars carrying government officials while they were leaving the premises.

Ng, who is state DAP Youth chief, had lodged a police report on the incident, and alleged that the protesters had hit three other official cars and beaten up a volunteer security person who tried to prevent them from further aggression.

The three cars had ferried Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy and state executive councillors Lim Hock Seng and Abdul Malik Abul Kassim away from the venue after 9pm.

‘Why involve the DAP?’

When met today, Ng was initially sceptical that the police may probe the organisers of the event under the Peaceful Assembly Act which states that those who plan an event must notify the police 10 days in advance.

Ng said if this came to pass, the police’s action “smacks of politics and appeared as if the force were trying to protect certain quarters or penalise the DAP”.

In any case, Ng said the PAA should not be used against the organisers as the event was a Hari Raya do, a joyful event meant to promote unity between the different communities.

“Why involve us? If the police did not know about the event - the Northeast Police headquarters in Jalan Pattani is merely 100 metres away - how come there were several Special Branch officers around?” he queried.

The petty traders, who ply their trade along the strip of Padang Kota Lama - a well-known tourist spot - claimed their applications for licences had been rejected by the MPPP.

MPPP councillors in turn conside the hawkers “illegal”, saying that most were not from Penang, and that they would give priority to locals when issuing licenses.

‘Why no memorandum on demands?’

Meanwhile, Ng claimed that the protesters that night did not bring along with them a memorandum to be passed on to the government officials present.

“They intended to riot, not express their demands. If they wanted to demand their rights, there should have been a memorandum,” said Ng, who is also the political secretary to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“The protesters hit cars and also whacked a security person on duty, this is no longer a peaceful assembly but rioting,” he added.

Ng also complained that 24 hours after making his police report, the force has yet to take action on the culprits.

He slammed Gan for not being “fit to be an OCPD”, urging the latter to resign for not taking immediate action on the culprits.

“If he does not resign, we will sack the BN,” said Ng, insisting that there were members of Umno and Malay rights pressure group Perkasa who attended the protest.

However, state Umno Youth chief Shaik Hussein Mydin had denied that his members were involved in the incident, urging the state and MPPP to address the woes of the hawkers instead of ignoring the problems of “poor people”.