[UPDATED] Bar to take legal action against ‘unconstitutional’ cop barricade during walk

KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Bar is mulling legal action against the police force for allegedly depriving them of a constitutional right when they barred lawyers from marching to Parliament as part of their Walk for Judicial Independence this morning.

Its president Karen Cheah said the body has initiated its own fact-finding probe to determine the best legal course of action, with focus being on the constitutionality of the police barricades that barred them from progressing on with their march.

“Has there been a breach of duty under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 insofar in what the police force has done; have police carried out an unconstitutional act in blocking us from walking to Parliament?

“Were the lawyers actually falsely imprisoned in the Padang Merbok car park? Because it appeared like the entrances and exits were cut off, no one in and no one out,” she said during a press conference at the Malaysian Bar headquarters here today.

She said the Bar would sift through photographic and videographic evidence, along with reports to determine the most fitting legal recourse for the situation.

“We will then approach and obtain legal counsel. We will not sit down quietly. Oh, we are definitely taking it to court,” she stressed.

“What was supposed to be a historic walk never happened. Only an assembly happened.

“The police force has failed to carry out their duty, failed to ensure that we are allowed to exercise our constitutional right to peacefully assemble and march as provided for in the federal constitution,” she said.

Meanwhile, police said they will call up all individuals involved in the assembly to help in investigations, according to a report from Bernama.

Dang Wangi district police chief Noor Dellhan Yahaya said they would be summoned to the district police headquarters soon for their statements to be recorded.

Cheah also shared how representatives of the Bar had tried to submit their notice of the walk to police but were ignored and rejected on two separate occasions.

“After the second attempt, officers from the Bar reportedly heard the officers at the front counter of the station telling each other to throw their notice away,” she claimed.

Cheah confirmed that police were willing to allow a crowd of 20 lawyers to march to the Parliament this morning, but said the Bar did not agree and insisted that everyone there be allowed to march. 

Previously, police had said that only a small group of participants would be allowed to march, citing security factors.

This morning, about 500 lawyers gathered at the Padang Merbok parking lot from around 9am to take part in the walk which was initially supposed to end with a memorandum handed to the government at the Parliament entrance.

The memorandum seeks for the government to uphold judicial independence while ensuring that investigations into the legislative body are carried out in a manner that does not erode public confidence in the judiciary.

However, in a display of solidarity, Deputy Law Minister Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin made her way to the parking lot to receive the memorandum from the Bar, while giving her word their sentiments and grouses would be raised to the prime minister.

Noor Dellhan later said police had opened an investigation paper under Section 15(3) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, and Regulations 6 and 7 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Regulations (Measures Within The Infected Local Areas) (National Recovery Plan) (Transition to Endemic Phase) 2022, according to Bernama’s report.

“From observation, more than 200 people comprising Malaysian Bar members and several identified and yet-to-be-identified individuals gathered at the assembly,” he said in a statement.

Noor Dellhan said individuals at the assembly held placards and banners written with the message “Jom Jalan 4 Judicial Independence, Pertahankan Kebebasan Kehakiman” (Let’s Walk for Judicial Independence, Defend Independence of the Judiciary).

“Police would like to advise the public not to be involved in any activities that are against the law and firm action will be taken according to prevailing laws,” he said. – The Vibes, June 17, 2022