The [#1] Suqiu Committee [/#] proposes that the peaceful assembly should only require informing the police for the purpose of maintaining public order and facilitating traffic, and not obtaining the police's permission. The recent events in Sabak Bernam, Kubang Pasu, Kuala Lumpur and Kulim have again shown the negative attitude of the police towards citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble peacefully.

The existing law against peaceful assembly and its enforcement reached the height of absurdity when 47 individuals were arrested last Sunday simply because they took part in a walkathon that had no police permit. The peaceful assembly guidelines to be proposed by Suhakam to the Parliament in April must therefore do away with the requirement for a police permit.

The organisers of the SRJK (C) Damansara's Save Our School walkathon had informed the police of the event in advance and successfully kept it peaceful and orderly. However, 47 out of 99 participants were arrested. Apparently, the 'offence' they committed was their failure to walk two by two with a minimum of 20ft between each couple.

The arrested citizens were also ordered to take off the 'Save Our School' T-shirt they were wearing and give it to the police as evidence.

What can be more alarming than a police force that even has the absolute power to determine how a citizen should walk or dress up, with the latter facing the possibility of being arrested for 'illegal assembly' should he or she fails to meet the 'standards' set by the police?

Every citizen is entitled to the right to assemble peacefully and without arms under the Article 10 (1) (b) of the Federal Constitution. The police should not be given power to determine whether, when and how the people shall exercise such right.

The absurdity of the walkathon arrest has shown the nation that this power can be abused to the extent of violating the citizen's very personal freedom.

This is a shocking precedent that cannot go unnoticed by every segment of the society, not least Suhakam who is drafting its proposal for guidelines to peaceful assembly.