A local human rights group today called on the government to seriously consider the recommendation by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) in its Freedom of Assembly report to allow unconditionally all ceramah (public talk) in closed premises.

Attempts to ban such [political] ceramah appear politically motivated rather than in the interest of the public, said Suaram executive director Cynthia Gabriel in a statement.

She was responding to Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heungs announcement yesterday that the police will brook no argument about allowing ceramah without permits.

Chors retort was in reaction to the incident in Baling on Sunday where a police truck was set on fire at a PAS ceramah and police officers were attacked with stones. Police have blamed PAS members for the attack while the opposition party implied it was staged thus to reflect badly on the party.

Gabriel insisted that the right to hold assemblies which do not disrupt peace and stability is a basic right in a democracy and asked that the nationwide freeze on political ceramah be lifted immediately.

Consider the months leading up to the general elections in 1999 which saw hundreds of political rallies conducted peacefully with hardly any untoward incidents, often with police watching closely, she said.

On many occasions, chaos and violence erupts only upon police [interference], and that the handful of ceramah which have been marred by untoward incidents did not warrant a blanket ban on all, she asserted.

PAS attacked

Gabriel also urged the electronic media to stop the rampage against government critics.

The terrorism bogey which has gripped the world since Sept 11, has on Malaysian shores, translated into a direct attack on PAS, she claimed.

She called the attacks — which included equating PAS to the Taliban and now the incidence of violence at ceramah — as a systematic campaign to hammer PAS political life firmly into the coffin.

Meanwhile, Gabriel called for a thorough investigation to be conducted on the incident in Baling. Proof must be furnished before any party is to be blamed for the incidents of violence.

She further urged that parties keep mum on any speculation, reminding them of the initial rumours which abound after the fire that destroyed Dewan Tunku Canselor in Universiti Malaya last year.

Police have yet to reveal the cause of the fire although they have received all reports from the authorities concerned.