THE police should stop investigating and charging those who participated in the #Lawan protest yesterday, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said.

The commission said the authorities should instead introduce Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) for such protests.

“We call on the police to desist investigating and charging anyone merely for exercising this fundamental right.

“Instead, Suhakam would like to propose that the authorities emphasise on developing and strengthening the SOP to enable such gatherings by mitigating the risk of Covid-19,” it said in a statement today.

The commission had deployed a team to monitor the assembly organised by Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat yesterday, which saw the participation of about 1,000 people.

The seven-person Suhakam observation team was led by commissioner Jerald Joseph, together with commissioners Mah Weng Kwai and Nik Salida Suhaila.

It said its team observed that the assembly was peaceful, without there being any untoward incidents.

“We were encouraged by the… organiser and participants… making every effort to comply with the SOP in place.

“We believe that this measure could be further improved in the future,” it added.

Suhakam added that the police had also facilitated the assembly by negotiating with the organisers to ensure that the event proceeded, in spite of the last-minute decision to disallow participants from gathering at Dataran Merdeka as planned.

The commission reiterated that the rights of the people to gather peacefully had been guaranteed under Part II, Article 10 (1)(b) of the federal constitution, which states that all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.

“Suhakam would like to express its gratitude to everyone who has respected the freedom of assembly and expression during the assembly,” it said.

It was reported that the police will call everyone involved in Saturday’s protest.

Dang Wangi OCPD assistant commissioner Mohamad Zainal Abdullah said the organisers would be called first, and whoever attended at a later date.

The protest took place while Covid-19 restrictions under the movement-control order was still in effect.

The movement called for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to step down, among other demands. – August 1, 2021.