Universiti Malaya (UM) has the right to revoke or withhold the Bachelor's Degree certificate of its graduate who staged a protest during the university's convocation ceremony on Monday.

National Professors Council (MPN) president Raduan Che Rose said each university senate had the authority to give approval on the awarding of degrees based on the respective universities' rules.

He described such act as inappropriate and disrespectful to the official ceremony of the public university.

"Everyone has their own right, either the students or the universities.

"The awarding or revocation of degrees is the right of the university senate. As long as it has not been fully awarded, it is possible for the university to take action based on what the student had done," he told a press conference at the MPN headquarters in Kajang today.

He was commenting on the move by a non-governmental organisation known as Penggerak Mahasiswa UM which launched a petition on social media demanding UM to revoke the student's first degree certificate.

Raduan said although all Malaysians have the right to freedom of expression, we still have to abide by the laws.

"Just like in an official ceremony, we are subject to a protocol, we are governed by written and unwritten rules and regulations," he said.

During Monday's ceremony, the 23-year-old student was found holding up a placard on stage, urging the resignation of the university’s vice-chancellor Abdul Rahim Hashim after receiving his scroll.

- Bernama