The case of 24 Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists jointly charged on July 4 in connection with the Bersih 2.0 rally was mentioned at the Butterworth court today.

Judge Ikmal Hisham Mohd Tajuddin fixed hearing for four days from Oct 10.

The prosecuting officer is DPPSuhaimi Ibrahim, while CV Prabhakaran is defending the activists together with former Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan.

Malaysian Bar and Penang Bar committee, represented by E.Gnasegaran (who heads the Penang chapter) was allowed to hold a watching brief during the proceedings.

One of the activists, a minor, was absent on July 4 but was charged together with his friends. He was allowed bail of only RM1,000, while others had to meet bail of RM8,000 each.

Suhaimi insisted that bail requirement of RM8,000 should be imposed on the minor just like the adults but Prabhakaran argued that he has no problems attending the trial courtas his father is also facing the same charge.

NONE Prabakharan appealed for a lesser quantum for the minor.

The group was jointly charged under Section 48(1) of the Societies Act 1966, and face an alternate charge under Section 43 of the same Act.

The group pleaded not guilty to the charge before bail was set at RM8,000 each.

Legal muscle from KL

They were alleged to have committed the act (of being involved in an illegal assembly dubbed Bersih 2.0) at 3.30pm on June 25 at the Sungai Dua Toll Plaza, along the North-South Expressway in Seberang Perai Utara.

According to PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan, there would be a team of three lawyers from Kuala Lumpur and 22 from Penang providing legal assistance to the activists.

Gnasegaran said the Bar is deeply concerned over the case since it is related to public interest.

"We want to see that no charge violates the fundamental rights of the citizen. That is why we want to be part of the proceedings," he said.

"Th NONE e Bar acts on the matter based on legal principles, regardless of the activists (political or social) affiliations," he added.

During a press conference, Arutchelvan ( left) explained that since the court allowed a RM1,000 bail for the minor, the amount should apply to the other 23 activists as well.

"We welcome the decision today, but what happened on July 4 is a kind of punishment. They were charged around 4.30pm and we had to seek bail money for that amount within a short period of time," he said.

  Preemptive strike by authorities

On the six PSM activists held under the Emergency Ordinance for public disorder, Arutchelvan said he expected the first to be brought and charged in court today.

"But since it did not happen, we will wait for the decision of the application for habeas corpus tomorrow," he added.

Meanwhile, Arutchelvan criticized the authorities for wasting time and public resources to charge the 24 activists.

He said their charges were linked to the Bersh 2.0 rally for electoral reforms but they were arrested on June 25, while the organisation, backed by 62 NGOs, was only declared illegal on July 1.

"We plan to make a formal representation to the attorney-general to drop the case. This would help everyone, the police, too, have other things to do. There would be no need them to deploy officers to court," he quipped.

Police had set up a special counter outside the courtroom this morning and those who wanted to sit inside for the hearing had to register themselves.