Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain affirmed today that rally organisers only need to submit a five-day notice to the police and that permits are not required.
However, he said the issue of police insisting on rally permits may just be a linguistic faux pas.
"Some district police chiefs might have mistakenly said 'permits' and not 'notices' which have led to the confusion of many parties.
"There should be no issue between permits and notices," Razarudin (above) was quoted as saying by New Straits Times.
He was responding to former Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah calling on police to learn that rally permits are no longer required after the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) was enacted in 2012.
This was after police reportedly refused to accept the Women's March Malaysia 2024 organisers’ notice four times for a rally this Saturday.
The notice was only accepted today after the organisers went public with the rejection.
Previously, police - including Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay - repeatedly maintained that rally organisers need to apply for police permits.
Don’t wait till last minute
Razarudin hoped that rally organisers in general would also comply with the five-day notice required by the PAA.
"Please don't send in your notices two days before the assembly or sometimes we only get to know about it through WhatsApp and Facebook.
"We also have to plan our officers and the traffic.
“We are not restricting the people's freedom (to assemble)," he said. - Mkini
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