NGOs plan peaceful rally over the 1MDB probe
Published on: Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: A coalition of NGOs here is set to hold its first peaceful assembly in two weeks over the recent US Department of Justice's investigations into 1MDB.Gabungan #TangkapMalaysianOfficial1 (TMO1) Sabah spokesperson Mukmin Nantang said they hoped the assembly would raise the people's awareness on the issue and at the same time, deliver their message to the government."We want to urge the government to firstly, identify the Malaysian Official One as reported in the DoJ report and arrest him," he said, after handing over the coalition's notice to hold the peaceful assembly to the police, Monday.ADVERTISEMENT The assembly, set to be held on Aug 27 from 2pm to 6pm, will take place at the Dataran Chong Tien Vun, the public park in Kampung Air next to the courthouse.According to the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, the Malaysian Official One is a high-ranking official in the Malaysian government who also held a position of authority with 1MDB. The official is one of four unnamed individuals in the lawsuit.The lawsuit seeks to seize assets of more than USD1billion claimed to have been procured through money laundering.ADVERTISEMENT "There will be speeches by several speakers, poetry recitations, busking, singing... basically a feel good assembly but at the same time, make the people understand our message," said Mukmin.He added that although they have personally handed over the notice to the police, they were told that the notice had not been officially accepted because they are still required to fill up a form to hold the assembly.
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However, he said, the organiser will not fill up and submit the form because it would mean they are applying for permission for the event, a requirement that is not needed under the Peaceful Assembly Act."According to the Act, we only have to serve a notice to notify the authority that the assembly will be held on a certain date and time at a certain venue."Furthermore, based on previous cases, the very act of filling the forms would actually get us into trouble because the form is a request for permission, for example, from City Hall, which contravenes the Peaceful Assembly Act."Because of this form, the authority hauled people into courts. So we will waste a lot of time," he said.Mukmin said the organiser is expecting between 150 and 200 people to attend the assembly, mostly young people from NGOs, students and political parties.He added that the organiser is expecting to be called in by the police several times leading up to the day and had even been told that police will not be providing security to them because the organiser did not follow the proper procedure.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"But we will try to solve the problem nonetheless. The venue does not belong to City Hall. They maintain it, but it is a public space. Anybody can use it," he said.The organiser insisted to hold it at the venue because it is the most strategic place as the speakers' voices will travel further compared to the venue of Bersih 4 in Tanjung Lipat.