NGO Turun leader Mohd Azan Safar today branded the allegations that the Dec 31 rally to protest the slew of price hikes was to “topple the government” as a way to “shift focus” away from the real purpose of the New Year's Eve rally.
“We will just gather peacefully. We will not be provocative and we will not ask for the government to be toppled,” Azan said in an interview with Malaysiakini today.
“Those (making the allegations) are just trying to shift focus from the real issue, which is price hikes,” he added.
Shortly after Azan, a student leader, announced the Dec 31 rally against price hikes, an online poster published by an unidentified individual began circulating, claiming that the Dec 31 rally at Dataran Merdeka was to topple the government.
Azan has already been arrested and released under suspicion of intending to topple the government, and he admitted that he is “worried” about possible sabotage during the rally.
“But our security team will ensure that people who carry provocative banners are dealt with within the group,” he said.
“We will just gather peacefully. We will not be provocative and we will not ask for the government to be toppled,” Azan said in an interview with Malaysiakini today.
“Those (making the allegations) are just trying to shift focus from the real issue, which is price hikes,” he added.
Shortly after Azan, a student leader, announced the Dec 31 rally against price hikes, an online poster published by an unidentified individual began circulating, claiming that the Dec 31 rally at Dataran Merdeka was to topple the government.
Azan has already been arrested and released under suspicion of intending to topple the government, and he admitted that he is “worried” about possible sabotage during the rally.
“But our security team will ensure that people who carry provocative banners are dealt with within the group,” he said.
Azan also said that his arrest by the police on Dec 23, where he was kept under custody for 20 hours, “did not make sense”.
“The police acted unprofessionally. Even the magistrate did not find that there was a case for the police to keep me in remand.
"But after that they still dragged me to the High Court, but then let me go in the evening,” said Azan (on the left), who was investigated under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act for organising an illegal assembly and also under the Penal Code for allegedly wanting to overthrow the government.
He said questions from the police centred around the speech he made during a gathering at Kampung Baru a few days earlier, where he was reported to have said the police could arrest him if they wanted to.
“The whole thing was as though they are accepting my challenge that they can arrest me if they want to,” he said.
He went on to remind the authorities that those gathering for the rally are “citizens and not criminals”.
“Past records show that without any provocation, rallies can be peaceful,” Azan added.
“The police acted unprofessionally. Even the magistrate did not find that there was a case for the police to keep me in remand."But after that they still dragged me to the High Court, but then let me go in the evening,” said Azan (on the left), who was investigated under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act for organising an illegal assembly and also under the Penal Code for allegedly wanting to overthrow the government.
He said questions from the police centred around the speech he made during a gathering at Kampung Baru a few days earlier, where he was reported to have said the police could arrest him if they wanted to.
“The whole thing was as though they are accepting my challenge that they can arrest me if they want to,” he said.
He went on to remind the authorities that those gathering for the rally are “citizens and not criminals”.
“Past records show that without any provocation, rallies can be peaceful,” Azan added.
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