'Not an offence if crowd exceeds stadium capacity'
PKR vice-president N Surendran says there is no law in the country that states it is an offence to bring a large crowd that exceeds the capacity of a stadium.
PKR vice-president N Surendran says there is no law in the country that states it is an offence to bring a large crowd that exceeds the capacity of a stadium.
Surendran (
left
) said the police investigations against Saturday’s rally organisers was an acknowledgement that the gathering had attracted a huge crowd.
“However, it is not an offence under any law if the crowd exceeds its capacity. It is not a criminal act. The police have nothing better to investigate but on this,” he said.
Surendran said he estimated that the crowd during the peaceful rally on Saturday was in the region of 200,000.
He was asked to comment on the statement by Dang Wangi OCPD Zainuddin Ahmad yesterday that the police were investigating the organisers on three alleged violations , including the crowd exceeding the 30,000-capacity of the iconic Merdeka Stadium.
The other alleged violations being investigated by the authorities are the bringing of children under 15 to the rally and carrying of placards, posters and banners bearing words of a seditious nature.
Zainuddin said the 27 conditions were set out, of which three had been violated and the conditions were set and agreed upon in accordance with Section 15 (1) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
Surendran mockingly said that if there was such a charge against the organisers, maybe we should plead guilty as charged.
“Thanks to the police for admitting the crowd is higher then usual. However, the police should be investigating and catching the real criminals,” he said.
He said that it is as if the police were looking any faults for it to bring action on the opposition and trying to create confusion to the public by levelling such investigations, adding that this was absurd.
Meanwhile, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, who is the organising chairperson, was quoted in Free Malaysia Today as saying that the organising committee will assist police in the probe.
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