IT’S not new. We’ve been talking about it for years. But the Nov 9 fracas in Petaling Jaya has triggered off a new round of “war of words”. Which brings us, once again, to the all important question. “Should public assemblies be allowed without police permits?”
As it is police permits are hard to come by. More often than not, organisers of public rallies are denied permits. They cry foul, citing Article 10 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees the right to assemble. So they go ahead even without permits. Based on Article 10, they have a point. Hence they “have every right” to be angry with the police for breaking up assemblies. Like what happened on Nov 9.
But the police are saying the people who turned up that Sunday night were part of an illegal assembly and had broken the law. That has always been their stand on public assemblies. The men in blue are going by the Police Act which stipulates any grouping of three people can be deemed illegal assembly. For it to be “legal” a police permit is needed. Based on the act the police too are right. Meaning the police and assembly organisers are both right. So who is wrong?
The time has come for the issue to be settled once and for all. Even the government sponsored human rights commission Suhakam wants an end to all this. Eight years ago it had recommended that public assemblies be allowed without police permits.
In December 2000, I reported on the proposal for the theSun (see f ashback). Then Suhakam chairman Tun Musa Hitam (back in 2000 he was Tan Sri ) was of the opinion that “the people have the right to hold assemblies as enshrined in the Federal Constitution”.
So Suhakam had wanted to see peaceful public assemblies “legalised”. The organisers need only inform the police of the gathering without having to wait for a permit. However, there were several conditions attached to the proposal. The main ones being assemblies must be held in designated areas, within a specific time and organisers must place a “bond” as guarantee. The “bond” as suggested by Suhakam was a sum which would be forfeited if public property was damaged during assemblies.
On the day the story appeared, I followed it up by getting reactions and among the people I spoke to were Elizabeth Wong and Ashaari Sungib. Both are now Yang Berhormat. Wong is now a Selangor executive councillor and Ashaari is assemblyman for Hulu Klang.
Wong was then with human rights body Suaram while Ashaari was active in an Islamic NGO. Both welcomed the proposal although they were not happy with certain conditions. The designated area for assemblies was one.
Anyway, Suhakam was supposed to complete the proposal the following year for submission to the government. The fact that we’re still talking about public assemblies, it’s obvious nothing had happened.
However, the current Suhakam “lineup” have also talked about the need for a review of the public assembly issue. I can’t agree more. Already the rules on public assemblies are giving the government a “bad name”. And what is perceived as the police’s “soft approach” against pro government groups as compared to others at public assemblies is not helping the government cause.
Malaysians are now “braver” in expressing their grouses openly. And it’s not only about big issues like ISA etc. Now we even see peaceful “demonstrations” by residents against contractors and housing developers for not providing ample parking lots, access roads and irregular garbage collection.
Incidentally, an anti-ISA gathering held in Ipoh also on Nov 9 went on peacefully without police “intervention”. So too was another vigil at Petaling Jaya’s Jalan Timur padang on Nov 16. This perhaps could be due to different interpretations of the law on public assemblies. All the more reason the matter should be addressed fast.
The time has come to put an end to the issue once and for all. The sooner the better.
Mohsin Abdullah
The Sun
21/11/08
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