POLICE must stop their intimidation and pressure on youth activists who gathered at the Himpunan Tuntun Undi18 on March 27, said electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0.

In a statement released by its steering committee today, Bersih 2.0 said cops must respect the people’s freedom to express their demands.

The police have called up 11 participants of the rally for investigations under Section 9 (5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act and the Regulation 11 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures Within Infected Local Areas) (Conditional MCO) (No. 4) Regulations 2021.

“Bersih 2.0 reminds the authorities, especially the police, not to abuse the law for political interests of certain parties and to respect Article 10 of the federal constitution, which guarantees the people the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly,” it said.

Earlier today, Muda secretary Amir Abdul Hadi, who was one of the rally organisers, said police have called up seven participants of the Undi18 protest outside Parliament last Saturday.

The seven will have their statements recorded at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters tomorrow afternoon.

The seven who will meet police tomorrow are Amir, DAP youth chief Howard Lee, PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang or better known as Tian Chua, Amanah youth chief Shazni Munir, DAP’s Ketari assemblyman Young Syefura Othman, Saharan Raj from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), and Arveent Srirangan Kathirtchelvan, the founder of civil society group #Liberasi.

Amir said police have a list of 11 people who were involved in the protest. The others will be called later.

About 300 youths gathered outside Parliament and held a symbolic 18 minutes of silence to protest the delay in lowering the voting age to 18  and automatically registering voters to September 1 next year. The two measures are popularly known by the Malay phrase Undi18 (Vote 18).

Some opposition politicians were also present at the protest, including former education minister Maszlee Malik and PKR lawmaker Maria Chin Abdullah. along with other civil society groups such as Bersih 2.0 and Demokrat Nasional. – March 29, 2021.