The High Court will decide on April 24 whether to allow Bersih 2.0's application as well as its request for a copy of the 1,706 police reports lodged against the rally.
Judge Rohana Yusuf, who heard lawyers from both parties in chambers today, will also decide on Bersih 2.0′s request to obtain additional documents, mainly the 1,706 police reports lodged against the Bersih 2.0 rally.
Senior federal counsel Azizan Md Arshad – representing the government, Hishammuddin and Ismail – told reporters that he was objecting to the cross-examinations as Hishammuddin’s affidavits were sufficient for the court.
Rohana, who cancelled the original hearing date of March 29, will later fix another date for the hearing of the actual judicial review case after resolving this matter, said Azizan, who was with senior federal counsel Effendi Nazila, and federal counsel Najwa Bistamam.
The lawyer representing Bersih 2.0, K Shanmuga, told reporters that it was vital to question the minister as there was “dispute of facts” and clarification is needed from Hishammuddin and Ismail beyond what was stated in the affidavits.
“The minister made a serious allegation that Bersih 2.0 and the people behind it was a ‘threat to national security and threatens to prejudice public order’. The applicants are all very proud to be Malaysian. They want to ask the minister why he made such a serious allegation,” he said.
Shanmuga said about 110 police reports have already been disclosed, but it was not enough.
“When we looked at the reports (given), very few were from people in KL. We asked, ‘what is the nexus’? Also, the reports were only about the rally, not the Bersih organisation itself,” he said.
“Why is it the minister came to the conclusion that Bersih is unlawful?”
“We stress we don’t want to embarrass the minister. He is a lawyer, he handles questions in Parliament everyday, surely he can handle cross-examination,” Shanmuga said, adding that Bersih 2.0 chairperson S Ambiga has said she was willing to be cross examined.
Ulterior purposes
Shanmuga was with Ambiga, lawyers Aston Paiva, Fahri Azzat, and lead counsel Tommy Thomas, who submitted today.
The lawyers had filed this separate application on March 1.
In the main case, Bersih 2.0 is seeking to quash the order declaring it an unlawful society in the judicial review it filed July 8 last year.
The applicants are 14 members of the movement’s steering committee, including Ambiga. The respondents are the Home Minister, Inspector-General of Police and the government.
On Sept 28, the High Court granted leave for a judicial review.
Bersih 2.0 is seeking an order of certiorari to quash the Home Minister’s order dated July 1, last year declaring Bersih 2.0 an unlawful society and a declaration that the order is null and void and of no effect.
Bersih 2.0 had argued that it is a coalition of 62 NGOs and civil societies and had no political parties in the coalition.
As such, the Registrar of Societies (ROS) could not deem Bersih 2.0 illegal as it was a “movement” and not a society by virtue of the fact that it was a coalition with no fixed membership, Bersih 2.0 said.
In the application, Ambiga and the others stressed that Bersih 2.0 aims to achieve electoral reforms peacefully and therefore could not be considered a threat to national security.
The application accuses Hishammuddin of using his powers for ulterior purposes rather than out of a genuine desire to preserve public order.
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