The organisers of last year’s #TangkapNajib rally have urged the police not to repeat their crackdown on the forthcoming #TangkapMO1 rally.

Demi Malaysia spokesperson Amir Abdul Hadi said the inspector-general of police should act for the people’s interests, and not the political interests of certain parties.

“Demi Malaysia wishes to urge the inspector-general of police to be more progressive on the people’s right to peaceful assembly...

“The inspector-general of police needs to act for the people’s interest, not be a tool to defend the political interests of certain parties.

“The Peaceful Assembly Act is not an excuse to prevent the people from assembling, because this right is enshrined as a fundamental right in the Federal Constitution,” Amir told a press conference today.

The press conference was called to announce Demi Malaysia's support for the #TangkapMO1 rally, which Amir said the youth activist group would assist by mobilising youths from all around the country to attend the Aug 27 rallies to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Sabah.

The group will also hold a flash mob at the KL Sentral station on Aug 19 and distribute fliers, which is the same day that #TangkapMO1 organisers intend to hold the flash mob.

On Aug 1 last year, the #TangkapNajib rally at Sogo Shopping Mall in Kuala Lumpur fizzled out after police launched a pre-emptive strike and arrested 29 people as participants began to trickle in.

Demi Malaysia, a coalition of activists, organised the rally to call for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's arrest for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

In the upcoming #TangkapMO1 rally led by a separate group of student activists, the group seeks to pressure the government to reveal identity of the ‘Malaysian Official 1’ named in the US Department of Justice’s civil forfeiture suits last month.

The lawsuit seeks to recover assets that were supposedly bought with funds misappropriated from 1MDB and laundered through the US financial system.

Malaysian Official 1’s identity is widely speculated to be Najib, but he has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, Amir said the students’ actions should be supported since the government seemed to be more inclined to protect Malaysian Offical 1, and the opposition too busy fighting each other.

He said that youths make up about 60 to 70 percent of the Malaysian population and are bound to be the most affected group in the 1MDB scandal.

He said the scandal has become a global sensation, which would in turn affect investment and economic growth in the country.

“If the current unemployment rate is estimated at 3.4 percent, things would surely get worse amid economic uncertainty,” he said.