Police action against cancelled protest ‘excessive’, says organisers

 

Organisers of the second #Lawan protest originally slated to be held in Kuala Lumpur today has criticised the police’s actions against the aborted protest as excessive.

Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR), a group of mostly young activists, noted that these actions had been taken despite the police being formally given notice of the protest’s cancellation.

In a statement last night, SSR said it was invited to a meeting with Dang Wangi police chief Noor Dellhan Yahaya on Wednesday to discuss the protest.

During the meeting, the organisers handed a notice informing the police that the protest slated for today has been cancelled.

Despite this, police obtained a court order banning 34 SSR activists from entering certain parts of Kuala Lumpur today.

It also exposed the activists’ personal information by publishing copies of the court order along with their full names and IC number. The posts on social media have since been removed.

SSR also said police has turned up in large numbers at activists’ homes last night, without prior notice, to serve the court order.

“We feel these actions are excessive because it is not done properly […] We feel these actions are meant to intimidate activists from performing their duties and their democratic rights even though we have given notice to the police that we have cancelled the rally.

“We wish to emphasise that any protest that we organise will be publicised officially and done in line with Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

“We will not do anything carelessly or recklessly because each of our protests is to speak up for the people,” it said in a statement last night.

The protest originally slated for 11.30am today is to demand then Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s resignation but was cancelled when Muhyiddin announced his resignation on Aug 16.

Bera MP Ismail Sabri Yaakob will be sworn in as his successor at 2.30pm today.

Despite the cancellation, police are setting up 88 roadblocks and traffic diversions at the city centre ostensibly in response to the protest.

RapidKL is also shutting down some of its train stations in the city centre to “protect public safety”.

#Lawan's first protest was held on July 31 which saw hundreds of protesters marching through the streets of Kuala Lumpur. - Mkini