Anti-govt rally organiser chased out of presser venue, claims intimidation

The organisers of the Save Malaysia 2.0 rally claimed they were chased out of an event space where they were supposed to hold a press conference on the upcoming demonstration due to alleged intimidation by the government.

Save Malaysia Movement Secretariat chairperson Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz then sarcastically thanked Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for having to hold the presser under the trees just outside the booked venue in Kuala Lumpur.

“So, I apologise because today, we are forced to hold the press conference outside. Thanks to Anwar and the Madani government for putting such great pressure on us that we have to hold the press conference outside.

“There should have been a nice place to hold the press conference inside (the venue) but who knows, all sorts of pressure have been put on us, so we are forced to hold this press conference under a tree,” he told the media.

Faisal (above) told Malaysiakini that they paid for the booking yesterday and even had a meeting before the press conference inside the event space but then were told to leave right before they held the media briefing.

“They would have informed us earlier that we were not allowed to go in, right? 

“They asked us to leave. They didn’t allow the press conference to be held inside. In fact, the food that we had prepared for the press and others, they had already packed up,” he added.

Regarding the rally, Faisal announced that the secretariat had planned three demonstrations in stages starting in Tambun on July 27, Permatang Pauh on Aug 31, and finally in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 16.

He said everyone can participate in the rallies as the group is championing people’s voices in criticising the Awnar administration for failing to improve the masses’ wellbeing.

‘Internal issues’ forced cancellation

When contacted, a spokesperson of the venue told Malaysiakini anonymously that “internal issues” had forced them to cancel the booking and refund the group.

Asked whether there was any intimidation by the government, the person said that there was nothing that they were aware of.

“They (organisers) requested to book the hall at the very last minute yesterday, but we couldn’t process their request due to internal issues,” the person said.

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