Home minister urges Icerd protestors to heed the law

The planned protest in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 8 was no longer necessary since Putrajaya decided not to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd), said Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

"Any attempts to proceed with this gathering is unreasonable," he said in a statement today.

However, should the protest proceed, Muhyiddin said rally organisers must take heed of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and meet all conditions set by the police.

"If there are attempts to stoke racial and religious tensions, then stern action will be taken in accordance with the law.

"The government respects individual rights to expression and assembly, as provided for by the Federal Constitution, such rights are to be practised in accordance with the law," he said.

In September, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had told the UN General Assembly that Malaysia will ratify the six remaining core treaties.

Umno, PAS and many Muslim groups had protested against ratifying Icerd after Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin asked Putrajaya if the treaty would affect Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

A coalition of NGOs led by Ummah has vowed to protest against the ratification of the treaty on Dec 8 in Dataran Merdeka.

Now that Putrajaya has backed down on the matter, they are still proceeding with the gathering and will be turning it into a celebration instead of a protest. -Mkini