LETTER | Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) welcomes the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) decision to drop charges against student activist and Gempur Rasuah Sabah rally coordinator Fadhil Kasim, a move that aligns with the moratorium on ongoing Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) investigations announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim two weeks ago.

However, this charge should never have happened in the first place. The anti-corruption rallies involving university students were explicitly mentioned by Anwar among the investigations under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) that would be immediately halted due to the moratorium.

Furthermore, whilst mentioning that Section 11 will be removed, Anwar also acknowledged that the owner’s permission requirement appears in multiple provisions of the PAA - signalling that the moratorium was thus intended to cover all such provisions.

The weaponisation of Section 9(5) against Fadhil over the owner permission requirement contradicts the moratorium’s intent, which was to not only render the said requirement obsolete, but also recognise that the right to peaceful assembly in public spaces should not be contingent on the “permission” of local authorities who are merely stewards of these spaces.

The selective enforcement of the PAA is further evident in the fact that the anti-corruption rally in Kuala Lumpur, held under similar circumstances, commendably faced no repercussions.

Resounding the deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), all forms of peaceful advocacy should be “encouraged, not stifled”. This requires fully upholding the spirit of facilitation, which also means that authorities do not circumvent the PAA’s legal framework by misusing other laws to suppress peaceful activism.

Yet, Suaram programme manager Azura Nasron, a family member of a Sosma detainee and I are facing charges under Section 5 of the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act, despite being present at the Home Ministry solely to facilitate the Sosma detainees’ families handover of a memorandum on issues faced by detainees to the ministry’s representatives.

Contrary to allegations made that we trespassed into the ministry complex without a “valid pass”, we were denied entry despite a scheduled appointment and forced to wait outside for 2.5 hours without justification.

We made multiple requests for an entry pass, which were all ignored. Whilst the charges are temporarily postponed as of Feb 24, their mere existence sets a concerning precedent for restricting the right to peaceful assembly outside government buildings - a critical avenue for redress on issues faced, policy advocacy and democratic expression.

Suaram urges that all authorities uphold the moratorium in good faith and cease all unjust investigations and prosecutions against assembly organisers.

The PAA reforms must be fully and consistently implemented, in line with the prime minister’s assurances that the law will shift toward facilitation, not suppression.

SEVAN DORAISAMY is Suaram executive director.

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