The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has called on the police to respect and recognise the right to peaceful assembly without restriction, as a fundamental human right.

This came after the response by the police towards recent assemblies and movements made by the rakyat to express their views and opinions, namely the arrest of 31 youths for holding a candlelight vigil and the closing of major roads to a cancelled protest.

“These two incidents revealed actions which are not in line with the state as a...