PETALING Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, deputy minister Sim Tze Tzin and former activist Mandeep Singh have been given a discharge amounting to an acquittal by the magistrates’ court for participating in the 2015 #KitaLawan rally.

Magistrate Maizatul Munirah Abdul Rahman discharged the trio under Section 254 the Criminal Procedure Code after prosecutors said they are no longer interested in pursuing the case.

“They need to be allowed to continue their duties without worry of the accusations hanging over their heads,” lawyer Vince Tan told the court today.

The trio were charged under Section 4(2)(c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) for participating in the rally, which protested against PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy conviction and the then impending implementation of the goods and services tax.

The rally saw thousands gathering near Dataran Merdeka on March 28, 2015, before marching to the Sogo shopping mall in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

Deputy public prosecutor Noorelynna Hanim Abd Halim represented the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), which received the trio’s representation letter two months ago.

Chin is former chairman of electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0, while Sim is deputy agriculture and agro-based industry minister. Mandeep, a former Bersih steering committee member, is now a special officer in the Communications and Multimedia Ministry.

The trio were initially given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the Petaling Jaya magistrates’ court in August last year, but were charged again for the same offence in October after an appeal by former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali.

“This process shouldn’t happen. I hope nobody has to undergo what we went through for three and a half years,” Chin told reporters outside the courtroom today, adding that she will move to have PAA repealed.

“The right to protest must be protected. It serves as checks and balances.

“When we took to the streets, we were protesting against corruption. Any Malaysian should be able to support that kind of questioning.”

Sim said there are “a lot more cases” relating to PAA pending in court, and urged Attorney-General Tommy Thomas to drop charges against “politically persecuted persons”.

“It’s a waste of money, it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money, a waste of the court’s time. Many, many cases are more important than these politically motivated charges.”

On remarks by former de facto law minister Azalina Othman Said that Pakatan Harapan-linked leaders are getting off criminal charges, he said: “They shouldn’t have been charged in the first place. The cases were politically motivated to protect (former prime minister) Najib (Razak) and his regime from the fallout from the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.

“And, during the Barisan Nasional government, the attorney-general dropped certain cases, such as the National Feedlot Corporation case. And that was protecting individuals linked to a scandal.”

Last month, the public prosecutor withdrew sedition charges against political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, or better known as “Zunar”, human rights lawyer N. Surendran, and lawmakers R. Sivarasa and Hassan Karim.

Yesterday, AGC withdrew its appeal against a sessions court ruling earlier this year to acquit former minister Zaid Ibrahim, who was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for making offensive statements against Najib in 2015.

Human rights group Fortify Rights has called on the government to immediately drop all pending sedition charges and investigations against political and rights activists.  – August 3, 2018.