THREE senior Malaysian Bar leaders today were summoned by police to record their statements concerning the Walk for Judicial Independence last Friday, but refused to let police record their statements saying police have failed to uphold the law and procedures.

Bar president Karen Cheah said the Bar complied with all the requirements to hold a peaceful gathering under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012.

Yet, police prevented the lawyers from exercising their constitutional right to a peaceful assembly, she added.

She was one of the three who were called in today.

“The Malaysian Bar condemns, in no uncertain terms, the manner in which the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) obstructed the Walk,” said Cheah in a strongly worded statement tonight.

“Police failed in their role to ensure Malaysian Bar members were able to exercise their constitutional right to peacefully assemble, as guaranteed in the Federal Constitution.

“This is a form of abuse of power and public misfeasance as instead of facilitating the Walk and ensuring the safety of the participants, they did the converse to frustrate the rights of citizens.

“Their actions set a bad example for the citizenry as it conveys the message that citizens are not free to exercise their constitutional rights even when they comply with the law, and that a law enforcement agency can and will act with impunity and unlawfully just because they are in a position of power to do so.”

Cheah, Bar member Roger Chan and the Bar Secretariat CEO, along with their counsels, arrived at the Dang Wangi police headquarters at about 2.30pm.

But they refused to record their statements after police refused to give them a copy of the first information report (FIR) – the first report lodged on the Walk, which kick-started the investigation.

“We were told to make a written request and that the decision to provide us with the report is solely at their (police) discretion,” said Cheah.

She said police also failed to observe another procedure when summoning the trio as they did not issue a notice under section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Only after much insistence did they issue the notice under the relevant section, she added.

But the notice, which is supposed to state the relevant law provisions as basis for the investigation, did not contain such information.

Cheah said only upon meeting police today were they told that the investigation is being conducted under section 15(3) of the PAA 2012 and regulations 6 and 7 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Regulations 2022.

“As we were informed of the section and regulations under which the probe is conducted only today and did not see the FIR, we decided to not give any statement to police.

“We informed them that we will make a written request for the report before leaving the station.”

Citizens must be aware of their legal rights, including the right to have an attorney accompany them to a police station, she added.

Cheah also took police to task over their handling of the Walk, despite the Bar fulfilling all requirements to hold a peaceful assembly.

The Bar made official arrangements to hand over its memorandum to the prime minister, with his designated representative, Deputy Law Minister Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, set to receive the document.

It also notified police of the protest at Padang Merbok in Kuala Lumpur and walk on Parliament 10 days before the event as required under the PAA 2012.

“In fact, the Malaysian Bar attempted to give notice to police as early as June 3, in accordance with section 9 of the PAA. But police twice refused to accept the notice, thereby contravening the PAA.”

The second attempt was on June 7.

Police then imposed unlawful conditions verbally on June 15 and in a letter received by the Bar a day after.

One condition states that only 10 representatives are allowed to deliver the memorandum to Parliament, and they must travel by car.

“There is no legal basis for such imposition,” said Cheah, adding that the Bar replied to police in writing to explain why the conditions are unlawful.

She said police misused the infectious diseases regulations to investigate the professional body, as the procession to Parliament never happened because it was blocked.

Police also came out with “excessive force”, with the Light Strike Force deployed in full riot-control gear to prevent the walk, she added.

She said police “seemed to be guided by incomprehensible logic” and showed that they “do not understand and worse still, regressed in this instance, to a pre-PAA 2012 era of authoritarianism and curtailment of fundamental freedoms and civil liberties”.

“The Malaysian Bar cannot countenance this transgression from PDRM. It shall courageously take this further, insofar as the laws of our land allow us to do so.” – June 24, 2022.