Selangor DAP Youth has launched a donation drive to fund student activist Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi, who is challenging in court Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's (UKM) decision to suspend him.

At a press conference held at DAP's headquarters today, Selangor DAP Youth chief Teh Hoong Kiat urged the public to donate RM10 each for Asheeq.

"We want to stress that the right to assemble for every citizen, including university students, is guaranteed under the Federal Constitution," Teh said.

"We should not let Asheeq fight a lone battle," he added.

The campaign, dubbed "Solidarity For Asheeq Ali will begin today and go on until Jan 24, 2017.

The initial target of the donation drive is RM5,000, which would cover the disbursement cost of Arsheeq's previous lawsuit related to the disciplinary action.

Teh said the targeted fund may increase from time to time, following the subsequent appeal process.

Members of the public can channel donations for Asheeq into Selangor DAP Youth's Public Bank account (account number: 3162088409). They can also call 019-2336469 for more information.

Also present were Asheeq, DAP Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming, Damansara Utama assemplyperson Yeo Bee Yin and DAP university affairs bureau director Leong Yu Sheng.

Suspended for one semester

The third-year UKM law student was suspended for one semester and fined RM200 on Nov 15 for his involvement in the "Tangkap MO1" rally held at Dataran Merdeka on Aug 27.

According to Asheeq, the university's disciplinary board cited Section 3 and Section 13 of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Discipline of Student) Rules 1999, claiming that Asheeq had tarnished the university's reputation and broken the law by taking to the streets.

"The clause on tarnishing the university's reputation has been so widely defined (by the university). This is the third case brought by the university," said Asheeq.

Previously, Asheeq was slapped with disciplinary action after his participation in the 2014 water shortage issue in UKM and for giving a speech on the goods and services tax (GST).

"These three disciplinary actions have nothing to do with the reputation of university. That have been wrongly intepreted (by UKM's disciplinary board)," he added.

On Dec 14, Asheeq challenged the constitutionality of "tarnishing the reputation" (memalukan universiti) as stipulated under UKM's rules, which was formulated under the University and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA).

UKM, the Higher Education Ministry and the government were named as defendants.

"I want the court to declare that the clause of tarnishing is not in line with the Federal Consitution.

"And, I (wish) the court to declare it is constitutional, that it must be read together with Article 10 (right to freedom of assembly) of the Federal Constitution.

"Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had in 2012 amended the UUCA to allow university students to express their political views," Asheeq added.