Police kept a close watch on a procession of 70 yellow-clad protestors today, but did not interfere with  their 2-kilometre walk from KL Convention Centre (KLCC) to Bukit Bintang.

The group even posed for photos near a mobile police station outside the Pavilion shopping centre and a police booth near their destination outside Maybank's Bukit Bintang branch.

Towards the end at 3.30pm, the police had 12 officers keeping watch, but by then the group was dispersing.

NONE Patrol officers who had spotted the group earlier were seen communicating on their radio, but did not shadow the group.

According to the protest event page on Facebook, the demonstration is a show of solidarity for those who would be protesting against the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) in Pahang tonight, and an act of defiance against the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011.

NONE The Bill was passed by the Dewan Negara on Dec 20, last year and prohibits street protests. Since it was introduced on Nov 22 , there had been peaceful protests against the law held at KLCC nearly every Saturday, except on public holidays.

The Kill the Bill protesters started gathering at KLCC's park at around 2pm, before marching towards KLCC, with many carrying yellow balloons, "Stop Lynas" umbrellas, wearing bright yellow shirts, or green "Green Assembly 109" shirts; the latter a reference to a 2000-strong anti-Lynas protest on Oct 9 last year.

Time off for leaflet distribution

As the procession proceeded, some protestors stopped to distribute pamphlets, ang pows and candies to onlookers, while explaining their cause. However, they did not shout any slogans except when stopping for group photos.

NONE Instead of "cheese", they shouted slogans like, "stop Lynas, save Malaysia", "send Lynas back to Australia ", and "stop Lynas, ban cyanide (used in gold mining)" when posing for their photos.

The group also made a brief stop to view the World Press Photo Exhibition 2011, being held at KLCC as part of a worldwide tour.

Then, they took the newly completed air-conditioned sky-bridge to proceed from KLCC to Pavilion, and walked along Jalan Bukit Bintang to their final destination of a small square in front of the Maybank branch.

NONE On the sky-bridge, a security guard attempted to stop the group distributing leaflets, but left them alone when asked the penalty for leafleting, apparently to refer the matter to her supervisor.

Outside Pavilion, security guards kept the group moving to prevent them from blocking pedestrians,  watched by police officers from a nearby mobile police station.

Upon reaching their destination, the protestors posed for several group photos, chanted slogans, and sang ‘Negaraku', before calling it a day.