KUALA LUMPUR – Police will be investigating the #TangkapAzamBaki rally held earlier today under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1998 (Act 342).
The decision was announced in a statement released by Brickfields district police chief ACP Amihizam Abdul Shukor, who urged the people to obey existing laws in the nation and to voice their opinions through proper channels.
“Strict action will be taken against those who stubbornly continue to organise or participate in gatherings without valid approval from relevant authorities,” he said, adding that 21 senior officers and 205 low-rank officials from the Brickfields police district had been stationed to oversee the protest.
Besides that, manpower had also been channelled from the Federal Reserve Unit, the KL police contingent headquarters, the Kuala Lumpur Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department, and the police force’s Air Wing Unit.
Putting the estimated number of protestors at 400, he noted that the crowd wearing black T-shirts had marched from LRT Bangsar to Jalan Travers, where a speech was then delivered by leaders of the movement.
The statement also apparently mislabelled Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat as the organisers of the gathering, with a spokesperson from the body saying that while they are supporters of the movement, they do not claim to be its organisers.
The #TangkapAzamBaki action committee, meanwhile, said in a statement that it would continue to fight for the arrest of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki and an overhaul of the anti-graft institution.
Referring to a statement made by the Securities Commission (SC), the committee further called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to acknowledge his failures and to carry out the necessary action to rectify the situation at hand.
“The statement made by the SC, which concluded that Azam Baki had lied and victimised his brother, has raised even more questions as to the source of his wealth as a government official.
“We would also like to express our disappointment and sympathy towards the fate of police officials who are being used as tools to close spaces of democracy, as demonstrated by the lockdown ordered yesterday,” it said.
The #TangkapAzamBaki rally, supported by over 30 civil society groups, was held earlier today at LRT Bangsar after a last-minute location change following road and train closures affecting most areas in Kuala Lumpur. – The Vibes, January 22, 2022
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