A Magistrate’s Court’s prohibitory order barring Siti Kasim and another individual from a 2022 rally demanding MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki’s resignation is illegal, her lawyer told the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
The activist’s counsel, Kee Hui Yee, told civil court judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh this morning that the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court order - applied for and granted to the police on Jan 20, 2022 - erred in law.
This is because premises owners lodged no objections at the initial public gathering location, namely Dataran Merdeka, Sogo and Masjid Jamek, Kuala Lumpur, he said.
Kee, who is acting for Siti (above) and co-applicant S Raveentheran in the judicial review which targeted the inspector-general of police, the government, and two police officers, submitted that the magistrate order stated it takes into account such objections when it does not even exist.
“The magistrate took irrelevant considerations into account, such as the premises owners’ objections.
“However, there were no such objections by premises owners, thus the prohibition order is illegal,” Kee said over the rally on Jan 22, two years ago.
Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly @ Arwi told the court that the four respondents would rely on their written submissions to counter the two judicial review applicants’ arguments.
The respondents’ written submissions contended that Siti and Raveentharan’s legal action should be dismissed because the duo ultimately attended the rally, which was relocated to Bangsar on the same day.
Farid fixed June 26 for a decision on the judicial review.
‘Tangkap Azam Baki’ rally
The “Tangkap Azam Baki” rally, held during the Covid-19 lockdown, was mobilised following a shareholding scandal implicating the MACC chief commissioner.
Azam came under scrutiny after allegations he owned shares in two companies in 2015 surfaced.
According to Excel Force Bhd’s 2015 annual report, Azam owned 2,156,000 warrants in the company as of March 21, 2016. At the time, Azam was the head of MACC’s investigation division.
However, in a press conference on Jan 5, 2022, Azam said he did not do anything wrong as the shares were bought by his brother using his name.
Initially, the High Court denied leave to Siti and Raveentharan to commence the judicial review, filed on Jan 20, 2022.
However, in May last year, the Court of Appeal allowed the two applicants’ appeal for leave and remitted the action back to the High Court for a hearing of the judicial review’s merits.
Through the challenge, Siti and Raveentharan are seeking general, aggravated or exemplary damages over the alleged violation of their fundamental rights of freedom of movement, speech and assembly.
Severe leg cramps
Siti also seeks compensation over her alleged humiliation and mental anguish, as well as purported severe leg cramps.
The outspoken activist - who had reserved a room at a hotel in Lorong Medan Tuanku, Kuala Lumpur, the night before the rally initially set at Dataran Merdeka, Sogo, and Masjid Jamek - said that she suffered leg cramps as she had to walk to the new rally venue in Bangsar.
She alleged that she could not drive to Bangsar as the roads leading out of Kuala Lumpur were subjected to police closure due to the rally, forcing her to walk there.
She also claimed that police at a roadblock in the capital prevented her from taking the shortest route to walk to Bangsar, leading to severe leg cramps. - Mkini
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