The police today opened an investigation into allegations that the organisers of yesterday's gathering at the Merdeka Stadium had violated three of the 27 conditions agreed to between them and the police.      

Dang Wangi police chief ACP Zainuddin Ahmad said the alleged violations were bringing children under 15 to the rally; carrying placards, posters and banners with words of a seditious nature; and allowing the number of participants to exceed the agreed 30,000.     

The police would call up several witnesses and study the footage of closed circuit television cameras (CCTV), he said when contacted by Bernama .       

Zainuddin said the police would conduct an investigation into the alleged violations because the 27 conditions had been agreed to in accordance with Section 15 (1) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.           

Meanwhile, the Merdeka Heritage Trust, owner of the stadium, said it would soon issue a statement on the condition of the arena following the gathering yesterday. The Merdeka Heritage Trust is a subsidiary company of Permodalan Nasional Berhad.        

200 policemen were deployed for crowd control in the event yesterday.    

Lam Thye: Police behaved well

Meanwhile Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairperson Lee Lam Thye said the effort of police proved that they were capable of handling the situation well and should be complimented.      

Therefore, he hoped members of the public would appreciate the contribution of the law enforcers.              

"Compliments should be given especially to the force under the Kuala Lumpur police chief in controlling the assembly well without any untoward incidents.      

"There have been much negative publicity on police. I hope what happened yesterday will boost the spirit of police," he said when contacted by Bernama in KL today.  

Lee said the Peaceful Assembly 2012 Act proved that it could be conducted well and orderly if all parties, including the organisers and enforcement agencies, worked together to ensure the assembly was held peacefully.         

He said what took place at the assembly yesterday could be a good example of how future assemblies could be done under the act.       

"Should all parties could carry out their duties in the spirit of the Act, then assemblies could be held with compromising the security of the people," he said.         

Suhakam: Relaxed police conditions helped

Meanwhile, several infringements of the conditions, especially on bringing children to the assembly yesterday, Lee hoped police would investigate such claims.        

He said parents were still adamant on bringing children to the assembly and did not respect the law.      

Lee said the opposition, as the organiser of the assembly, should be responsible for advising and reminding all participants on the conditions.       

"I regret what had happened and it was lucky that there were no untoward incidents yesterday," he said.     

Meanwhile, Malaysian Human Rights Commission chairperson Hasmy Agam said the assembly went on smoothly without any arrest made by police.     

"This showed the police relaxed the conditions to the organisers and participants and there were not incidents of violence," he said.      

- Bernama