The Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA) does not provide the police the powers to stop any assembly, several legal experts told Malaysiakini.

"Under the law you have to give a 10-day notice and also comply with the requirements of the PAA. That is the law.

"(But) the Act does not provide for the police to say yay or nay to an assembly," said lawyer Andrew Khoo.

Fellow lawyers New Sin Yew and Syahredzan Johan concurred.

Recently, the police courted flak for rejecting the the notice by the organisers of a debate between former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.