Police refusal to accept notice of assembly oversteps line of authority, says Maria Chin

THE POLICE’s alleged refusal to accept a notice of assembly by the organisers of a rally for women in Kuala Lumpur has sparked a call for the force to undergo retraining in such matters as well as on understanding people’s democratic exercise.

Former Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah expressed deep concern at the “unfortunate news” of the behaviour, as claimed by the organisers of the Women’s March Malaysia.

She said that Article 10 of the Federal Constitution guarantees speech, assembly and association.

“The Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) implements and facilitates this right.

“Under this Act, organisers are merely required to notify or inform the officer in charge of the police district (OCPD) of an intended assembly.

“The police have no authority under the PAA to refuse the assembly,” she said in a statement last night.

Maria, who is a former Petaling Jaya MP, stressed that the need for a police permit is no longer applicable under the PAA and the police should familiarise themselves with the legislation.

Refusal to accept such a notice would mean that the police have overstepped their line of authority, she asserted.

She called on the Home Ministry and the inspector-general of police to ensure that citizens are able to exercise their rights and freedoms.

“Further I strongly recommend that the Royal Malaysian Police be trained again in dealing with assemblies as well as have a much more complete understanding of what human rights means in a democratic society.”

She added that this is not the first time that the police have allegedly refused to accept a letter of notice. Another recent example was in relation to the ‘Siege for Palestine’ rally in December last year, she said.

Yesterday, the organising committee of the Women's March Malaysia (WMMY) 2024 took the police to task for allegedly refusing to accept the notice sent for the event planned this Saturday.

The committee said that it had tried four times, on March 2 and 3, to submit the notice to the police but failed.

"On Friday (March 1), three attempts were made to inform the police about our march scheduled for March 9 at Sogo, Kuala Lumpur.

"The first attempt was made by a committee member in the morning (Friday) at Dang Wangi district police headquarters.

"Our document was sighted by an officer at Dang Wangi. However, he refused to officially stamp the said document," the committee alleged in a statement.

On the same day, the WMMY committee claimed, two more attempts were made through couriers addressed to the Dang Wangi headquarters. They claimed that the police still refused to accept the notice.

Yesterday, their lawyer went to the Dang Wangi police station to again submit the notice, but it was also not received, they alleged.

The WMMY committee emphasised that Article 10 of the constitution states that every citizen has the right to freedom of expression and that all citizens have the right to assemble peacefully.

"The WMMY 2024 organising committee has tried to take all reasonable steps to inform the responsible authorities and comply with the rules before the rally,” they said.

They noted that today is the last day for them to submit the notice.

“One last attempt will be made by us and the lawyers at the Dang Wangi police headquarters," they said. – The Vibes, March 4, 2024