Human rights defenders have condemned the prosecution of a Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) rally participant for alleged assault, insisting that the charge against the unemployed man ignores the police’s role in triggering the scuffle.
Lawyer Zaid Malek, representing Isa Hazmi Zulkifli, 32, who was charged with one count of assault under Section 323 of the Penal Code today at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate Court, highlighted the unfairness of the accusation against his client.
“We strongly oppose the decision to prosecute as (the incident) occurred due to police hostility toward protesters,” Zaid, who is also a Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) director, told Malaysiakini.
“Why are protesters being deterred from exercising their constitutional right when it exactly aligns with the government’s stance on the attack on the flotilla? The right to expression and assembly is for all, not just those in power,” he added.
Earlier today, Isa pleaded not guilty to a charge of assaulting a fellow participant of the rally held outside the United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 2.
Section 323 of the Penal Code stipulates that those found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt can be punished with imprisonment for up to a year, a maximum fine of RM2,000, or both.
Bail was set at RM1,300 with one surety, with magistrate Faezahnoor Hassan fixing Feb 12 next year for case mention.
Alleged police aggression at rally
In a statement following Isa’s charging, civil society organisations urged for the charge to be dropped, claiming that the allegation “does not hold water” as plainclothed police officers had escalated tensions during the pro-Palestine rally.
The gathering, which was held after Israeli forces detained Malaysian activists aboard GSF vessels carrying aid for Gaza, previously saw the arrest of two individuals for allegedly obstructing the police, with one officer reportedly injured during an altercation.
At the time, Zaid rebuked Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for “blindly defending” the police over their handling of the rally, accusing the minister of unfairly vilifying protesters while telling him to probe the police’s alleged aggression against rally participants.
Zaid had said that videos of the protest showed police escalating tensions, including by placing one demonstrator in a chokehold and dragging a female protester on the road.
‘Cops should’ve de-escalated’
Expressing similar sentiments, the organisations said today that pursuing the charge against Isa “deflects due scrutiny” from the police’s alleged failure in protecting the right to assemble.
“The police bear a heightened positive duty to facilitate assemblies, given their ‘legal monopoly on the use of physical force to uphold the law and maintain public order and safety’, as rightfully noted in the Handbook on Monitoring Freedom of Peaceful Assembly,” they added.
A total of 21 associations endorsed the statement, including LFL, Suaram, Justice for Sisters, the Centre for Independent Journalism, Bersih, and Amnesty International Malaysia.
They further stressed that police are expected to prevent conflicts, defuse tensions, and reduce the risk of violence during assemblies through dialogue, mediation, and other de-escalating measures.
“Instead, officers displaced protesters onto the main road - a disproportionate restriction on the exercise of the right to peacefully assemble - as well as used unnecessary and disproportionate force to restrain participants and arrest the two human rights defenders.
“Such conduct is the opposite of a protective and facilitative approach to public assemblies,” they added.
Clearer rules, police accountability needed
They also called on the Home Ministry to amend Section 8 of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 to specify the police’s roles in facilitating peaceful assembly in line with the United Nations’ model protocol and international covenants.
They emphasised that police personnel involved in protests should be clearly and visibly identifiable through the display of name badges, identification numbers, and rank insignia, with the deployment of plainclothed officers in assemblies only based on necessity.
“In line with the model protocol, the police should refrain from introducing undercover operations in the context of protests due to its deep chilling effect and risks of human rights violations.
“Any undercover operations, when justified, must be authorised and kept under continual review by a judicial authority and such authority should be provided with all relevant information to enable robust scrutiny of the legality, necessity, and proportionality of any such operation,” they said.
As such, the groups pressed for Suhakam and the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) to conduct a human rights impact assessment of the police’s practices during public assemblies, as well as the PAA and its adherence to international human rights standards.
Police video release sparks privacy concerns
The groups also echoed past criticisms against the circulation of a video recorded inside a police station when the two detained activists were being processed for bail, with Zaid previously asserting that the footage was taken without the pair’s consent.
“The police had released a video, where an officer can be seen ‘advising’ the (activists) not to repeat their actions - even before any investigation had been completed - despite other video evidence and eyewitness accounts suggesting that plainclothes police officers provoked the protesters.
“Both the content of the video and its release undermine the presumption of innocence and the right to privacy, security, and dignity, safeguarded under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution,” they said.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadil Marsus has since defended his social media post, which showed a police officer seemingly advising the two protesters who were detained during the rally.
Commenting on the uploaded video, social media users had questioned the legality of a police officer publicly sharing such videos, with some raising concerns about consent, safety, and privacy as the two men’s faces were clearly visible. - Mkini
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