KUALA LUMPUR, 14 May: The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court decided for the Coordinator of the Youth Solidarity Malaysia (SAMM), Badrul Hisham Shaharin, and two others, Mohd Bukhairy and Edy Noor Reduan, to be discharged not amounting to an acquittal for violating the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012.
The decision was because the Court of Appeal had ruled that Section 9 (5) of the PAA is unconstitutional.
This is in relation to the assembly to oppose the goods and services tax (GST) which took place on New Year’s Eve.
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar, tweeted congratulations to Badrul Hisham and his team on the court’s decision.
Previously, the Court of Appeal cancelled charges against the Selangor Deputy Speaker, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who was charged under the PAA for not giving a 10-day notice when organising the Blackout Assembly at the Kelana Jaya Stadium in May 2013.
Upon discharging Nik Nazmi, the panel of three judges led by Justice Mohd Ariff Mohd Yusof ruled that Section 9 (1) of the PAA, which requires the people to give a 10-day notice to the authorities before a protest, as unconstitutional.
The Court of Appeal ruled that the police can impose a restriction on peaceful assemblies but cannot punish organisers or demonstrators for not following them.
Yusof said that what is basically lawful cannot be the grounds of criminal action.
