Police have warned the public not to participate in an illegal gathering on tomorrow (Sunday) morning in front of the Sogo department store in Kuala Lumpur.

"As no permit has been issued for the gathering, those who take part in it can be charged under Section 27(5) of the Police Act 1967 for participating in an illegal assembly," said Dang Wangi's acting Superintendent Che Hamzah Che Ismail in a Bernama report.

Che Hamzah added that police will be on standby.

A group of lawyers are planning to proceed with the march from the Sogo shopping complex to Central Market at 7.30am tomorrow, a route originally planned for the Bar Council’s annual World Human Rights Day celebration.

Lawyer N Surendran said that organisers of the march, themed “Lawyers for Freedom of Assembly”, will not be applying for a police permit.

“We think that applying for a permit is a negation of our fundamental right to freedom of assembly as enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution,” he explained.

Sending a message

Surendran maintained that the march is purely initiated by a group of concerned lawyers with no political dimension to it.

“We feel the (Bar Council) march was called of due to undue pressure from the authorities. We want to send a message that the people of Malaysia have the right to a peaceful assembly,” Surendran said.

On Tuesday, the Bar Council had to call off its annual march due to pressure to obtain a police permit and current circumstances.

In a statement, Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan explained that the decision was made to call off the march after “anxious consideration to the present circumstances that surround the event, particularly the interests of the public and the Malaysian Bar."

She also criticised the police’s request that the Bar Council obtain a permit for the event, describing it as “unlawful fetter on our constitutional right to assemble peacefully."

The Bar Council will also move its “Festival of Rights” event tomorrow to its own building located near Central Market after police insisted that organisers apply for a permit to hold the event at Central Market.