Six Pakatan Rakyat leaders - two in Perak and one each in Negri Sembilan, Johor, Kuantan and Penang - have been charged in the Sessions Court of the respective states.

They are deemed to have violated the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA) by not informing the police 10 days ahead of the 'Blackout 505' rallies organised by the coalition.

In Penang , the state Pakatan executive secretary Ong Eu Leong claimed trial under Section 9 (1) of the PAA for not informing the police 10 days prior to organising a 'Blackout 505' rally in Batu Kawan on May 11.

in Perak , DAP's Ipoh Timor MP Thomas Su also claimed trial to a charge for a similar allegation over a rally at Dewan Wisma Chin Woo, in Jalan Hussein, Ipoh on May 9.

Perak PKR’s Mohammad Anuar Zakaria was also charged under the same section of the PAA over another Ipoh Blackout rally on May 12, for which he pleaded not guilty.

Their bail was set at RM4,000 each with one surety, and the cases have been set for mention on July 19.

In Negri Sembilan , state PKR Youth chief Nazree Yunus was also charged at the Seremban Sessions Court with similar PAA charges over a Blackout rally at Oakland, Seremban, on May 17.

Nazree, like the other three, claimed trial.

In the afternoon, Johor PKR state executive secretary R Yuneswaran was charged in Johor Bahru Sessions Court in relations to another Blackout rally at Tebrau, Johor Bahru on May 15.

According to his lawyer Jimmy Puah, who is also the new state assemblyperson for Bukit Batu, Yuneswaran claimed trial and was bailed out without payment.

Pahang PKR secretary Kamarzaman Md Yunus was charged later in the day, also under section 9(1) of the PAA for the Black 505 rally in Kuantan.

Kamarzaman pleaded not guilty before Justice Fathiyah Idris at the Kuantan Sessions Court.

He was released on RM3,000 bail with one surety and the case has been fixed for mention on June 27.

He was charged at 3.30pm and was only informed about the matter at 12noon.

“I initially applied for a gathering at Mahkota Aman field but it was rejected by the police and the venue was then changed to a PKR office at Jalan Berserah, and even though we did not have enough time to inform the public about the change, people still turned up in force,” he said when contacted by Malaysiakini .

'We will fight this ...'  

At the Butterworth Sessions Court, judge Meor Sulaiman Ahmad Tarmizi released Ong without bail and set June 27 for mention of the case.

DPP Amer Hamzah Othman had applied for bail to be set at RM5,000 with one surety.

Ong's lawyer, RSN Rayer argued that there is no provision in the law to impose bail on his client, as he was summoned and not arrested.

NONE "We reject (the) bail (application because) Ong (right in photo) has complied with the summons (by appearing) in court today," he said.

"We also point out that PKR's Seri Setia state assemblyperson Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was charged with a similar offence on May 17 for the Blackout 505 rally in Kelana Jaya without bail.”

Amer Hamzah told the court that the application for bail was based on an order from the Attorney-General's Chambers in Putrajaya.

He claimed that bail was not imposed on Nik Nazmi because he is a member of parliament.

Ong, 44, a full-time worker with PKR, did not comment beyond saying: "We will fight the case all the way ... The authorities cannot deny the people their right to assemble peacefully."

He is being defended by six other lawyers - Ong Chin Wen, N Murali, Murali Ram, Lim Boon Beng, Jason Khor and Ong Yiu Shin.

If convicted, Ong faces a maximum fine of RM10,000.

Many Pakatan supporters turned up to show support for him.

Among the leaders present were Deputy Chief Minister I Rashid Hasnon, state executive councillor Dr Afif Bahardin, Tanjung MP Ng Wei Aik, assemblypersons Lee Khai Loon (Machang Bubuk), Soon Lip Chee (Jawi) and T Jayabalan (Batu Uban).

On Saturday, Ong had said he had notified the police of the rally on several occasions, also slamming the force for “flip-flopping”.

penang black rally post-ge13 record crowd 6 He referred to a May 11 The Star report quoting Penang police chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi as saying that “the organiser had submitted a notice to the district police chief as stated in the PAA”.

“We will mobilise our men to the scene to maintain public order and safety. We will also ensure smooth traffic flow,” reads the report.

The rally was to have been held at the MPSP stadium in Bukit Mertajam but was relocated at the eleventh hour to Batu Kawan stadium.

Ong said he had informed both the Bukit Mertajam OCPD and Nibong Tebal police headquarters about the rally in Batu Kawan.