The police will take action if the Bersih 4 rally attempts to topple the government through illegal means, deputy inspector-general of police (DIGP) Noor Rashid Ibrahim has warned.

He reminded the electoral watchdog that although the right to assembly is allowed under the Federal Constitution, violations of the law could still occur.

"If you want to overthrow the government through actions that are not allowed, then you are creating an offence. The police have to interfere.

"Rallying with the aim to overthrow the government, that falls under certain sections of the law," he told reporters at Terminal Bersepadu Selatan in Kuala Lumpur today.

He was responding to whether police would allow Bersih to stay overnight at Dataran Merdeka.

Ask PM to step down

The mammoth protest slated for Aug 29-30 is to demand for free and fair elections and a clean government, the right to protest, the strengthening of parliamentary democracy and to save the Malaysian economy.

The rallies , which would be held in three cities, would also call for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's resignation plus institutional reforms to prevent prime ministerial corruption.

Noor Rashid said the police would not intervene if the rally was peaceful and posed no problem to the public.

"If you want to start a peaceful rally, not a problem, one day one night, two days, two nights, three days, three nights, one month also no problem.

"But you have to remember, if you start disturbing the public, issue statements that hurt people's feelings, block access for others, and create harassment, then the police will act," he added.

Bersih has requested to meet with the authorities in a letter sent yesterday to both the Bukit Aman federal police and Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

Inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar reportedly said he has not received any letter of notification regarding the gathering, but said the police would calling the organiser for a discussion.

On another note, Noor was asked if the Malaysian police would send a delegation to Thailand to attend the hearing of Xavier Andre Justo , a Swiss national charged with blackmailing his former employer PetroSaudi International.

However, Noor said he in not in charge of the matter.

"This is being handled by the IGP, I do not know, you have to ask IGP," he said.

According to reports, Thai authorities said once Justo is charged, the Malaysian government would have the chance to probe him.

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