Malaysia to amend law on peaceful public assemblies; consent no longer needed from site owners

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government plans to amend a law which requires rally organisers to seek approval from site owners before holding their public gatherings, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday (Feb 13). 

The amendment will see a section of the country’s Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 scrapped, a move which Anwar said will facilitate groups intending to hold a peaceful assembly. 

“This means the need to get approval for certain locations will be amended or removed. Section 11 of the Act - requiring obtaining approval from the owner or occupier of the place - will be removed from the rules,” he was quoted as saying in Parliament by Malay Mail. 

Anwar and his administration previously came under fire from civil society groups for imposing restrictions on an anti-corruption rally held on Jan 25. Some critics had highlighted that the prime minister and his Pakatan Harapan leaders had also participated in street protests in the past. 

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had earlier told the organisers of the rally to seek permission from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the owners of the Sogo shopping centre - a popular gathering spot near an LRT station - for permission. The minister had said that the streets outside the shopping centre are not “public spaces”.

Amid the criticisms, Anwar then said that he had “no problems” with the rally but noted that “some locations were not approved”. The rally had sought to put pressure on the prime minister to quicken the country’s pace of reforms among other things.

Responding to a question in Parliament on Thursday, Anwar said that his unity government will remove Section 11 of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012. It is regarded as an obstacle to demonstrators as it requires the consent of the owner or occupier of the place of assembly. 

“With this, several previous actions, including the investigation into the anti-corruption rally involving university students, will be halted, and no action will be taken,” Anwar said in his reply to Khoo Poay Tiong, who is the Member of Parliament for Kota Melaka. 

Khoo - who is from the Democratic Action Party and part of Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition - had asked whether the government was prepared to amend the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 to make it easier for people to participate in peaceful protests without having to seek permission from the relevant parties. 

Previously, it was reported that the police had called in over 10 university students linked to January’s anti-corruption rally to record their statements, Malay Mail reported.

The rally was attended by around 200 mostly young protesters.  

“The same applies to the hunger strike and protests or demonstrations (regarding) SOSMA (Malaysia’s Security Offences Special Measures Act 2012) a few days ago, no action will be taken,” Anwar said, referring to a recent strike on Feb 9.

The SOSMA Act outlines special measures relating to offences against the state to maintain public order and security. For instance, an accused person can be denied bail and must remain in prison pending the final outcome of a court proceeding if the offence involves national security.

Approximately 40 to 50 family members of SOSMA detainees - including children - began a strike outside Sungai Buloh Prison in Selangor after their visitation requests were denied. They had also called for the abolition of the Act.

It was reported earlier that the police were investigating the hunger strike under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act. The organisers can be fined up to RM10,000 (US$2,234) if found guilty of not submitting a notice of the gathering to the police beforehand. 

The Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 will be amended in the next parliamentary session, Anwar said on Thursday. 

However, the prime minister said that his government had issued a moratorium on the Act for the time being, for the police to ignore the “problematic” provision. 

He also emphasised that rally organisers will still be required to notify the police five days before the gathering is held, to enable the authorities to take necessary steps to manage security, control and traffic. 

Anwar, however, warned that any assemblies involving weapons or young children would continue to be prohibited, adding that false accusations made at any rallies would be addressed through legal means.