The Court of Appeal has fixed Aug 23 to deliver its verdict on the government’s appeal against former Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan and her 14 fellow Bersih committee members.

The case pertains to the government’s claim of RM122,000 in losses allegedly suffered during the Bersih 3.0 rally in 2012.

The government also sought to reverse a High Court decision to award Bersih steering committee member Wong Chin Huat RM21,000 in damages for being unlawfully arrested and assaulted.

The appellate court fixed the date today after the case was mentioned in court.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge John Louis O’Hara ruled on Jan 30, 2015, that the organisers of Bersih 3.0 are not vicariously liable for damages that were incurred at the rally.

This is because the damages took place only after Ambiga had called off the rally.

“Moreover, it was not shown, to the satisfaction of the court, that the damages that occurred were actually caused by legitimate participants (the people in the rally) or by independent agents.

“Hence, I find the plaintiff's claim cannot be proved on the evidence,” Justice O'Hara said.

The pro-electoral reform protest on April 28, 2012 was the largest public rally in Malaysia at the time, but the event had been marred by violence.

A Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) inquiry into the rally held that the police should have merely arrested the protesters who broke a police barricade set up around Dataran Merdeka, instead of trying to disperse the entire rally by force.

It also found that the police had acted in bad faith by preventing media personnel from conducting their duties.