Asean Summit: Police ban public from protesting at Ampang Park

Police today warned organisers and participants of tomorrow’s anti-Trump rallies not to gather at the Ampang Park area in Kuala Lumpur, saying it is too close to a “red zone” security area designated for the 47th Asean Summit.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadil Marsus said while the people have the right to speak out against the injustices against Palestinians, they still have to abide by the law to ensure security and public order.

According to him, it has been decided that the area is off limits based on intelligence and analysis by security agencies, and urged organisers of the planned rallies to move their venue to other locations.

“The red zone is an area that actively involves protocol routes used by all delegates to the summit.

“The planned rallies at Ampang Park are also too close to the Intercontinental Hotel, which is among the facilities used as accommodations for the delegates.

“We want to stress that discussions have been held with the organisers to hold their protests at spots other than Ampang Park, we even offered them to do it at Dataran Merdeka or Padang Merbok, but I was informed that they are still adamant to rally at Ampang Park.

“So I want to stress to the organisers and public members to give full cooperation to the police. We will not allow any gathering at Ampang Park area from morning to evening tomorrow,” Fadil told a press conference.

The police chief added that the public is banned from participating in any rally at Ampang Park tomorrow based on security reasons and to safeguard Malaysia’s image as this year’s Asean chair.

The Asean Summit, to be held in Kuala Lumpur from tomorrow until Oct 28, will see the participation of state leaders from member nations and Asean key dialogue partners, including China, Japan, India, and the US.

US president Donald Trump, who has been under heavy criticism for his role in enabling Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, has confirmed he will be attending the event and is expected to arrive in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.

Many groups have announced that they would hold demonstrations against Trump during the summit.

This included the Palestinian liberation advocacy group Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Malaysia, which said it would hold a joint protest with more than 23 partner organisations to express its opposition to Trump’s presence at the event.

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