Malaysian police probe legality of rally in Kuala Lumpur backing Hong Kong protesters
- Officers say they will haul in organisers for questioning after force did not receive notice of event 10 days ahead as required by law
- But human rights lawyer says 2015 freedom of assembly ruling by the courts means such gatherings should no longer be criminalised
“We will be calling them in under the Peaceful Assembly Act as they did not inform police ... We have opened an investigation paper,” confirmed criminal investigation department chief Gunalan Muniandy of Kuala Lumpur’s Dang Wangi police station on Monday.
He said officers would be interviewing participants, including the organisers, this week.
Student activist Liew Liang Hong, 25, who organised the protest, said he had not yet received any word from police.
Under Malaysia’s Peaceful Assembly Act, marches and rallies require that police be informed 10 days ahead. Put in place by the previous Barisan Nasional administration which was toppled last year, the law was aimed at cracking down on protest movements calling for electoral reform and was used liberally against opposition politicians. After its landmark poll victory, the current Pakatan Harapan government vowed to amend or repeal the legislation, which was often used against them along with several other security-related laws.