JANUARY 23 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has urged organisers of an upcoming assembly in the capital this Saturday to adhere strictly to the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 provisions.
Saifuddin was also reported to have said that the police had instructed the organisers of the rally to obtain prior consent from the owner or occupier of the place of assembly.
“Public spaces do not have owners. But if it’s outside the Sogo department store, you must get approval from Sogo.
“For Dataran Merdeka, you must seek permission from Kuala Lumpur City Hall. That’s the law,” he told a press conference after the Asia 2025 International Security Summit and Expo here.
Is that so? Let’s do a quick check.
Dataran Merdeka is indeed subject to law — a by-law to be precise. A by-law is “undang-undang kecil” in BM. It is “kecil” in name but law nonetheless.
The by-law is the Local Government (Dataran Merdeka) (Federal Territory Of Kuala Lumpur) By-Laws 1992 [PU(A) 304/1992], made under the exercise of the powers conferred by Section 102 of the Local Government Act 1976.
By-law 8 says no person shall, unless exempted, hold any public address, demonstration, assembly, meeting, gathering or any other activity in the Dataran Merdeka without a permit from the Commissioner – that is, the Datuk Bandar of Kuala Lumpur.
By-law 9 empowers the Commissioner to (i) approve and grant or refuse any application for a permit; (ii) impose and attach certain conditions as he thinks fit to the permit; and (iii) revoke the permits issued at any time.
Any organiser who wishes to use Dataran Merdeka as a place of public address, demonstration, assembly, meeting, gathering or any other activity, must know that an application for a permit must be made in writing to the Commissioner in such form as may be determined by the Commissioner.
Where the application is approved, the Commissioner must, on payment of a sum as deposit as he may determine, issue to the applicant a permit. The permit holder must comply with the conditions attached to the permit (by-law 10).
The permit must be in such form and be valid for any period as the Commissioner may determine (by-law 11).
By-law 14 says any person who contravenes any of the provisions of the above by-laws may be ordered out of the Dataran Merdeka by the Commissioner.
Any organiser who wishes to use Dataran Merdeka for peaceful assembly in exercise of the fundamental right of assembly must know the law.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
“Benci Rasuah. Benci Kejahilan”
*This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
