POLICE have failed to carry out their duties to ensure the peaceful march for judicial independence proceed to Parliament, the Malaysian Bar said. 

Its president, Karen Cheah, said according to the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, the police have no right to stop the lawyers from walking to Parliament from Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur. 

“I think the police have failed to carry out their duties, that we are able to exercise our constitutional right to peaceful assembly,” she said at the Malaysian Bar today.

“They (police) were supposed to facilitate, not frustrate our right to express ourselves in terms of peacefully protesting. We wanted to walk to Parliament.”

She said they would be taking legal action against the police for their breach of statutory duty in facilitating the walk. 

“We will not sit down quietly and are definitely taking it (the authorities) to court,” she said. 

“We are in the midst of gathering the facts and the Malaysian Bar is not afraid to take action if need be.” 

Earlier today, police stopped some 300 lawyers from marching to Parliament from Padang Merbok to present a memorandum to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on upholding the independence of the courts. 

Police had blocked two roads leading up to Parliament. Also present was the police light strike force. 

During negotiations, Cheah said the police just cited “safety” as their concern. 

The memorandum was then handed to deputy de facto law minister Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, who came to Padang Merbok to meet the lawyers. 

Cheah said the fact that the police stopped the lawyers from walking was unconstitutional. 

“We have also complied with all the provisions under the Peaceful Assembly Act,” she said. 

“There is no such thing as a police permit or police approval. They can’t impose conditions on us, which are unjustifiable.”

She said every provision under the act has been followed and complied with. 

“We have given them (the police) a notice on June 7. When they told us that we are not able to walk, they issued a letter to us on June 15, which was delivered to us on June 16,” she said. 

“If we follow the act, the police were supposed to come back to us three days after we sent them a notice, but they have completely failed to do that. 

“If the police do not come back to us or do not impose conditions on us within three days, under section 14 of the act, we are entitled to go ahead with the assembly and the process of the walk as if no conditions have been imposed.” – June 17, 2022.