Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah will be charged in connection with Bersih 4, says an official with the electoral reform movement, official Mandeep Singh.

In a Twitter posting, Mandeep said Maria would be charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) next Tuesday.

The 34-hour rally that ended at the stroke of midnight on Aug 31 saw tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to demand Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's resignation.

Bersih 4 took a racial twist when detractors zoomed in on the large presence of Chinese Malaysians.

This then led to the Sept 16 red shirts rally to uphold the dignity of the Malays.

Maria shocked and puzzled

Contacted later, Maria expressed shock and puzzlement over the decision to charge her.

“Of course, we gave them (police) the notice of two weeks before (the rally). In fact, it was on Aug 10 that we had a meeting with the police,” she told Malaysiakini .

Bersih 4 was held before the Court of Appeal overruled the precedent set in the case of PKR leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

The Nik Nazmi case saw the court declaring that the requirement to provide a 10-day notice prior to holding a rally, as stipulated under the PAA, as unnecessary and unconstitutional.