Cops close 88 KL roads to stop already-cancelled protest
UPDATED 10.17PM | Police will close and divert traffic at 88 road intersections in Kuala Lumpur from 9am tomorrow morning ahead of the already cancelled second #KeluarLawan protest.
Among the affected locations include all roads around Masjid Jamek and Dataran Merdeka where the first #Lawan protest was held on July 31, according to a press statement by Kuala Lumpur Traffic Investigation and Enforcement chief Sarifudin Mohd Salleh...
UPDATED 10.17PM | Police will close and divert traffic at 88 road intersections in Kuala Lumpur from 9am tomorrow morning ahead of the already cancelled second #KeluarLawan protest.
Among the affected locations (list below, or click here) include all roads around Masjid Jamek and Dataran Merdeka where the first #Lawan protest was held on July 31, according to a press statement by Kuala Lumpur Traffic Investigation and Enforcement chief Sarifudin Mohd Salleh.
The police have also obtained a court order against 34 individuals to prevent their participation, despite a previous confirmation from the organiser Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat on the cancellation of the second rally.
Dang Wangi police chief Noor Dellhan Yahaya obtained the order from Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court today.
According to the order, the court found that all 34 individuals named would gather at Dataran Merdeka from 11.30am tomorrow for the #KeluarLawan protest, despite no approval granted from the police.
"And therefore, it has been found by this court that there is a need for an urgent measure to prevent an action that could disrupt public peace; pose a threat to public lives or safety; spark a riot; if the gathering was to proceed.
"And therefore, it was found by this court that a prevention notice is necessary and issued urgently on an ex-parte basis given that the gathering will be held on Aug 21," said the notice shared on KL police official Facebook page.
Earlier, RapidKL announced that it will temporarily shut down 34 rail stations in Kuala Lumpur from 9am to 3pm tomorrow to "protect public safety".
The full court order contained a list of all 34 recipients, complete with their uncensored identification numbers, prompting criticisms over potential security breaches.
All of the 34 recipients were previously questioned in connection with the first #Lawan rally on July 31, or the previous black flag convoy that both called for former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin's resignation.
Among those named include lawyer Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi who said police had wrongly identified his role at the protest where he was assigned to provide legal assistance.
He said police had also acted carelessly to expose his confidential information on its Facebook page, when the court order could have been directly handed over.
"I am considering taking urgent action against the police based on the above reasons," said Asheeq in a statement.
When contacted, several other recipients, including Malaysian United Democratic Alliance secretary-general Amir Abdul Hadi, Suaram coordinator Muhammad Abdullah Al-Shatry and activist Nashita Md Noor also confirmed they were only alerted of the notice on Facebook.
Lawyer Rajsurian Pillai later told Malaysiakini police had served each individual their court order.
"Police are going from house to house, I can confirm that," he said.
When contacted, digital rights activist Jac SM Kee said the exposure could subject individuals to abuse of private data.
"The police are supposed to defend against harm, not expose people to more harm.
"The risk of abuse of personally identifiable data is well known," Kee told Malaysiakini, adding that the sharing of such data is illegal in countries, including Singapore.
In Malaysia, having access to a person's IC number could reveal further information about their background through various government agencies.
Malaysiakini's checks found that the post has been removed, although it was unclear if it was due to reports lodged to Facebook over breach of confidential information.
