Organiser Of Gathering Reminded To Abide By Peaceful Assembly Act

SHAH ALAM, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- The organiser of the 'Himpunan Janji Bersih', scheduled to be held in Dataran Merdeka tomorrow, has been reminded to abide by the law under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the organiser should have officially applied to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) first, because Dataran Merdeka was under its jurisdiction.

"The owner of the area (Dataran Merdeka) is DBKL, and we cannot directly intervene on matters of issuing permission.

"Nevertheless, we are still waiting for fresh development from DBKL and to date, I have not received official information on the status of the application," he told a press conference after opening a national-level Criminal Consequences Awareness Campaign organised by the Malaysian Indian Youths Development Foundation here Wednesday.

He said this when asked to comment on the gathering which was scheduled to be held at Dataran Merdeka Thursday, in conjunction with Independence Day celebration this year.

Hishammuddin said the police would safeguard the security of all parties at the gathering.

He believed the majority of the people would not be duped into joining the gathering, as what had transpired during the Bersih 3 gathering was still fresh in their mind.