'Gempur Rasuah Sabah' rally to proceed despite police rejection

Summary

• The “Gempur Rasuah Sabah” rally will proceed as planned despite the Sabah Police Commissioner’s rejection, with organisers citing Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees the right to assemble.

• The rally secretariat criticises Jauteh Dikun’s statement, calling it unconstitutional, and planned to lodge a police report and take legal action for causing public confusion.

• Warisan bars its members from attending the rally in their capacity as party members.

The “Gempur Rasuah Sabah” peaceful rally will proceed as planned despite the police rejecting the event.

In a statement, the rally’s secretariat criticised Sabah police chief Jauteh Dikun for his apparent lack of understanding of the Federal Constitution, particularly Article 10, which guarantees Malaysians the freedom and right to assemble.

“Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Hussain clarified on March 4 that ‘peaceful assemblies do not require a permit; perhaps the police misspoke,’” the secretariat stated.

Earlier today, Bernama reported that Jauteh had rejected the rally, citing concerns over maintaining public order.

Jauteh explained that the venue was already used for the government’s Carnival Ria programme and noted that the anti-corruption rally had not received approval from Kota Kinabalu City Hall.

On March 4, the New Straits Times quoted Razarudin stating that permits are no longer required to hold peaceful assemblies. He also clarified that some officers may have mistakenly used the term ‘permit’ interchangeably with ‘notice.’

Rallies galore

On Dec 20, Suara Mahasiswa UMS announced plans for a New Year’s Eve anti-corruption rally outside the Sabah State Administrative Building as a warning to politicians ahead of next year’s state polls not to ignore the people’s will.

The group anticipates about 10,000 participants from communities across Sandakan, Tawau, Keningau, and Peninsular Malaysia will join the rally.

Complicating matters, another group, Sekretariat Himpunan Bangkit Sabahan, has reportedly planned a counter-demonstration at the same time and venue.

The “Gempur Rasuah Sabah” secretariat has further labelled Jauteh’s statement as unconstitutional.

“We advise him to fact-check and exercise greater caution before issuing statements to the media,” they said.

The secretariat added that it plans to lodge a police report and pursue legal action against Jauteh for causing public confusion.

Warisan has barred its members from attending the protest in their capacity as party members or using its party logo.

“Warisan is not only consistent but committed to fighting corruption,” Warisan information chief Mohd Azis Jamman added in his statement announcing the ban.

It should be noted that the “Gempur Rasuah Sabah” secretariat has prohibited the display of political party logos or other material promoting political parties at the rally.

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