©The Sun (Used by permission)
by Karen Arukesamy and Hemananthani Sivanandam
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22, 2011): THE Peaceful Assembly Bill was hailed as progressive by Barisan Nasional MPs and described as oppressive and suppressive by opposition lawmakers.
Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah told a press conference the tabling of the bill was a progressive start.
"The move is different from the old mindset where public assemblies were like an allergy," he said. "Now they have taken a big step forward and assemblies can be held but are subjected to conditions."
Hulu Selangor MP P. Kamalanathan in an SMS to theSun said he welcomed the bill as it gives all citizens the right to organise assemblies or take part in an assembly. "This bill will also protect the rights and freedoms of all Malaysians," he said.
DAP secretary–general Lim Guan Eng (DAP–Bagan) criticised the bill, saying it should have been called Illegal Assembly Bill.
"It is not much different from banning the assemblies as it has stricter and heavier penalties," the Penang chief minister said in Parliament lobby.
"The penalties are heavier and worse than the Police Act, with fines raised from RM10,000 to RM20,000.
"The bill restricts the people from gathering almost everywhere, from dams, reservoirs, water treatment plants, petrol stations, airports, public transport terminals, bridges, places of worship and even schools and kindergartens."
He said the bill prohibits those below 21 from organising an assembly.
"This is like another Universities and University Colleges Act," Lim said. "This is not liberalisation. This is further suppression and oppression, which restricts more civil freedom."
PKR vice–president Azmin Ali said there were no major changes in the bill.
"They are trying to tighten it and (make it) even more stringent than before," he said. "That is not the spirit of the prime minister who had promised in his speech on the eve of Malaysia Day to give more freedom to Malaysians to assemble and freedom of expression in terms of having a peaceful assembly."
Azmin said the bill has to reflect the spirit of civil liberties and freedom of expression.
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said the government should have consulted with relevant parties before tabling the bill.
Suhakam commissioner Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah said that the draft of the bill should have been discussed in public first. "The bill restricts the rights of citizens to assemble peacefully," he said.
He also said that the government should have consulted "widely" before making such a restrictive law. Muhammad Sha'ani said that he had yet to study the bill.
The Malaysian Bar, in a press statement today, welcomed the Peaceful Assembly Bill, but expressed surprise that a "street protest" is prohibited, as it is a form of assembly in motion, or procession, that is already legally recognised in section 27 of the Police Act 1967.
Such an assembly in motion is also permitted in most, if not all, of the jurisdictions that we would consider as having a model piece of legislation, Bar President Lim Chee Wee said.
Lim also said this prohibition, as well as certain others, were not disclosed as being part of the contents of the Bill, during the consultation process between the Malaysian Bar and the Attorney–General's Chambers.
Lim contended that in its present form, the Bill is more restrictive than present law, and must be improved.
He also said the Malaysian Bar proposed several amendments to the provisions in the Bill, including allowing street protests, permitting spontaneous assemblies, and impose a statutory obligation on the police and government (namely the Minister of Home Affairs, in the Bill) to promote freedom of assembly.
Other amendments include deleting the presumption of who is deemed to be an organiser, and removing the probibition on the participartion of, and organisation by, children as it is restrictive and contrary to Malaysia's international obligations under the Convention of the Rights of the Child ("CRC"), which we acceded to in 1995.