Court quashed rally notice requirement in 2014, LFL reminds police and govt

 

The Court of Appeal in 2014 has already struck down a provision in the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA) requiring Bersih to give prior notice to the police, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) reminded the police.

In a media statement today, the group said the warning by Kuala Lumpur police chief Allaudeen Abdul Majid for the public not to join the Bersih march to Parliament showed a “serious ignorance” of PAA provisions and the Federal Constitution.

LFL director Zaid Malek pointed out that in the 2014 decision of an appeal by Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad v Prosecutor, the Court of Appeal ruled Section 9(5) of the PAA as unconstitutional.

Zaid (above) said this ruling still stands as the Federal Court has not overruled it, and that a contrary outcome in a 2015 Court of Appeal decision in PP v R Yuneswaran (which upheld the provision's validity) cannot reverse this either.

“The 2015 court could not overrule the earlier decision as both courts are of the same level. Only the Federal Court, a higher court, could have overruled the Nik Nazmi decision.

“This has never happened, and the decision remains valid and enforceable until now,” Zaid said, urging the police to withdraw the threat against those attending the Bersih rally.

Betrayal

Zaid added that the police threat against the public not only contravened an appellate court ruling but was also a betrayal by Pakatan Harapan.

“It is appalling that under a Harapan-led government, police are cracking down on a Bersih rally. The home minister is from the Harapan coalition, which rode into power on the backs of many successful Bersih mass rallies.

“Harapan leaders also marched side by side with Bersih in the streets, back when the then BN government declared the Bersih rallies illegal or ‘haram’.

“Now in power, the Harapan-led government is doing the same thing. This is Judas-like behaviour,” Zaid said.

The lawyer added that failure to give notice does not render the rally unlawful as the concept of illegal assembly only existed under the repealed provisions on public assemblies in the Police Act 1967.

“Breach of any provision of PAA 2012 does not render any rally unlawful. Hence, there is no basis for the KL police chief to warn the public against attending the rally,” Zaid said.

He also urged the government to halt all enforcement of Section 9(5) of PAA per the court decision in Nik Nazmi’s case.

Nik Nazmi is now the natural resources and environmental sustainability minister, while Yuneswaran is now Segamat MP. - Mkini