Students will "occupy" Universiti Malaya on Friday to protest the disciplinary action against the eight UM students for their participation in a rally on campus last week.

Secretary for Progressive University of Malaya Vince Tan said students will camp out at the Kompleks Perdana Siswa on campus from 9am to 5pm that day "in solidarity" with their university mates.

The students will not only camp out there, but will also listen to talks at the Speakers’ Corner and enjoy theatre and music performances.

Tan said the programme is jointly organised by the UM Muslim Students Association (PMI) and Universiti Malaya Pro-Mahasiswa group, which controls the student union.

It was earlier reported that nine students will face disciplinary hearings following their involvement in the rally featuring PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, which attracted 2,000 students and supporters on Oct 27.

However, the students today clarified that only eight, including student union president Fahmi Zainol (above) , have been called for disciplinary hearings, which could see them all expelled.

'We'll face it on our own'

Meanwhile, Fahmi urged the university management to be "rational" and defer the disciplinary hearings.

"We are seeking a postponement so we can prepare for the proceedings," Fahmi said.

"I completely disagree with all the charges levelled against me and we will go all out to fight this." 

He said the students would solve the problem on their own and would not seek help from any political party.

"We had invited Anwar to speak in his capacity as an alumnus, but after what has happened, we will solve it without help from any politician and hope that all can support us," he added.

On Oct 27, Anwar spoke at the university’s Dataran Dewan Tuanku Canselor despite the university putting the campus on lockdown for the night to stop the event.

The students had broken the lock of the main gate and forced themselves into campus to attend the event.

UM has lodged a police report on the matter and said the CCTV footage was now being reviewed to identify the other students involved.