Court acquits trio for taking part in Kita Lawan rally

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Deputy Minister Sim Tze Tzin, Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah and activist Mandeep Singh were acquitted by the Magistrate's Court in Kuala Lumpur today on a Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA) charge for taking part in the "Kita Lawan" rally three years ago.

Magistrate Maizatul Munirah Abd Rahman allowed the acquittal request by the lawyer Vince Tan, and not just a discharge. 

This came after deputy public prosecutor Elie Hanim Abdul Halim informed the magistrate that the Attorney-General's Chambers had received a letter of representation and agreed to drop the charge.

This led to Tan applying for a discharge and acquittal.

The lawyer said that Sim is now a deputy minister, while Maria is an elected representative and Mandeep is a special officer with the Communications and Multimedia Ministry.

"Hence, they are now in the public service and the court should not allow a charge (to be left) on their heads," Tan said.

Last month it was reported that Tan was awaiting the response from a representation letter sent by the three to the AG's Chambers earlier.

A letter of representation is sent to apply to reduce or remove a charge.

Sim, Maria and Mandeep had initially been granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on Aug 28 last year, after the deputy public prosecutor, in that case, failed to show up in court for the first day of its hearing.

However, the trio was charged again in October last year.

They were charged under Section 4(2)(c) of the PAA for taking part in the Kita Lawan rally in Kuala Lumpur between 3.15pm and 6pm on March 28, 2015.

If convicted, they would have faced a maximum fine of RM10,000, which would have resulted in Sim and Maria eventually losing their seats in Parliament.

'Repeal PAA'

Sim called for the repeal of the PAA, as it curbed the rights of the people to freedom of expression and to protest.

"The protest was held against the previous kleptocratic government, against the jailing of (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim and also against the implementation of the goods and services tax.

"The charge against us is a form of political prosecution while we see the chambers, at that time, agreeing to drop the charges against Shahrizat (Abdul Jalil's husband), which involved public funds," Sim, who is Bayan Baru MP, said.

Maria said that they would continue to hold protests against anything that was not right, and agreed that the PAA should be repealed. - Mkini