About 300 students staged a peaceful gathering in the compound of a state-owned university in Kedah today, protesting the suspension of five students for taking part in an 'illegal assembly'.

A sixth student was fined RM100 for taking part in a student rally staged in April calling on their Kolej Universiti Insaniah (KUIN) management to reconsider using one of its residential college buildings as classrooms for Quran studies students.

NONE The protesters, who wore red headbands and carried placards demanding KUIN reconsiders the suspensions and fine, were supported by student activist group Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM or Malaysian University Students Solidarity).

SMM comprises seven student groups nationwide, including the Malaysian Democratic Students Movement (Dema), Independent Student Group (Kami), Malaysian Youth and Unisel (Universiti Selangor) Student Movement.

They gathered at the university's speaker's corner about 2pm, and 30 minutes later submitted a memorandum, endorsed by 2,500 students, to KUIN rector Dr Jamil Osman.

No action was taken against the students, who protested quietly and in a disciplined manner.

'Rector called meeting, but nobody came'

A spokesperson for the university, who did not want to be named, said the rector had invited student representatives to discuss the issue yesterday, but nobody turned up.

He said no action would be taken against the protesting students, adding that they could have been influenced by certain quarters not happy with the Kedah government's way of administrating the state.

Malaysiakini journalists were later escorted out of the compound by university security guards.

Jamil had earlier declined to comment on the matter, beyond stating that the university had reached a decision on the matter.

It is learnt that action was taken against the six students for speaking to the media about their plight.

NONE Speaking to reporters later, SMM Klang Valley chairperson Ahmad Sukri Abd Razak ( left ) said the protest was one of the group's attempts to "salvage the idealism of the students".

Sukri said the students in the memorandum they submitted called on the rector to drop the charges against the six.

"We want the university to respect the basic rights of the students to freedom of speech and to abolish any rules similar to the 1971 University and University Colleges Act (UCCA)," he added.

Sukri also went on to accuse the Kedah government of washing its hands off the KUIN problem.

He said the state government should engage with the students to try to resolve their problems, instead of allowing matters to go this far.

"I am disappointed that Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abu Bakar has washed his hands off this matter. Despite several appeals, even from the PAS Youth wing, he has rejected our needs," he said.

However, he praised Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim for 'intervening' in a student protest at Unisel recently, where the Khalid eventually declared the institution ‘UUCA-free'.

"Why won't Azizan learn from Khalid, who is able to administer Selangor very well," Sukri added.