Organisers still hope for police okay
Published on: Thursday, August 27, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Bersih Sabah will negotiate with City Police Chief ACP M. Chandra on its plan to hold the Walk for Democracy on Saturday, the highlight of Bersih 4 Kota Kinabalu (B4KK) since such activity is very popular in Sabah and routinely held without any problem such as the recent "Walk for Jesus"."Over the last two days, we received overwhelming support and more than 1,000 Bersih 4 T-shirts from Kuala Lumpur were sold out within three days. Other groups have also printed their own t-shirts and merchandise, which includes a scarf with BERSIH 4 #B4KK printed on it," said Bersih Sabah Organising Chairperson Jannie Lasimbang.She said while the organisers are confident that the assembly will be peaceful, they have set up a marshalls team, an urgent arrest team and a medical team.
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Anyone arrested during B4KK, she said, may contact the Urgent Arrest team by sending a SMS to 01121847998 providing the name, IC number and telephone number of the person arrested, and the police station to which that person was taken."The urgent arrest team will try to contact the arrested person and to arrange legal assistance as quickly as possible," she said.Bersih Sabah is urging Sabahans to participate in B4KK to press the government for institutional reforms since such institutional reforms will correct the economy which is what the people had wanted for the future of the country."We are not here to destroy the economy, we are here to tell the administration that these are the proposals we have and we cannot implement it on our own. By doing so, the economy will bounce back," she said.
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Meanwhile, Bersih Sabah commended the Kuching City Police Chief for allowing the peaceful assembly despite not getting an agreement from Kuching City Hall to use the Song Kheng Hai Field.The Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA) under section 10, which stipulates the need to get agreement from owner, has been used in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia to declare Bersih 4 unlawful, but not in Kuching.
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Under section 9(5), the PAA there is also a requirement to notify the police of an intended assembly, and the police may regulate the assembly by stipulating restrictions and conditions for the purposes of security or public order.There is no requirement of licensing by the police for an assembly, under the PAA and thus, the police have no power under the PAA to prohibit a rally. Bersih Sabah viewed the decision of the police to "disallow" the Bersih 4 in Tanjung Lipat contrary to the PAA, and legally flawed."In regards to section 124C of the Penal Code, Bersih Sabah cannot see how the five demands for clean elections; clean government; right to dissent; strengthening parliamentary democracy and saving the economy can be seen as an 'act detrimental to parliamentary democracy' as alleged by the Sabah Police Commissioner."In any case, no one has ever been charged under Section 124C of the Penal Code, which came into effect in 2012 even though a number of people have been investigated under the section. So, at this point, there is no clarity as to what constitutes as an 'act detrimental to parliamentary democracy'," she said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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