Kuala Lumpur: The Home Ministry has issued a nationwide ban on all items related to the Bersih4 mass demonstration, including its promotional materials and any item of clothing bearing the rally's name as well as its signature yellow.According to the federal gazette on the Attorney-General's Chambers website, the ban was issued Thursday under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 and officially come into effect yesterday.The order, issued by Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi within his powers under Section 7(1) of the PPPA, stipulates that:
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"The printing, importation, production, reproduction, publishing, sale, issue, circulation, distribution or possession of the publication described in the Schedule which is likely to be prejudicial to public order, likely to be prejudicial to security, likely to be contrary to any law and likely to be prejudicial to national interest are absolutely prohibited throughout Malaysia".Under the schedule, the ministry listed "any yellow coloured clothing and which contains the words "Bersih 4" and "any other printed material and pamphlet which leads to Bersih 4 rally" as the two types of "publications" banned.
The order is reminiscent of a similar ban issued prior to the July 2011 Bersih rally in the capital city.At the time, police nabbed an estimated 1,600 people for donning yellow tees and allegedly taking part in the rally for free and fair polls.
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The event, the second such gathering organised by the polls watchdog, saw a lockdown in the capital city but failed to stop a reported estimate of nearly 50,000 protesters take to the streets.Unlike its previous rallies, tomorrow's gathering by the group is expected to last through the night for 34 hours.
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It will be held simultaneously with similar rallies in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Kuching in Sarawak and elsewhere across the globe.Bersih 4's five demands are: clean elections; clean government; right to dissent; strengthening parliamentary democracy and saving the economy.Police have so far declared Bersih 4 illegal and threatened to take action should the event go on tomorrow.
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Local Internet regulators have also blocked access to sites promoting the protest.Earlier, Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said although regulators are also monitoring news portals for possible violations, not one has been blocked so far.
