Bersih chairperson under investigation over Sheraton Move protests
Thomas Fann, the chairperson of Bersih 2.0, was questioned by the police under two investigations for protests against the "Sheraton Move".
However, Fann had exercised his rights under Section 112(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code for which he refused to answer the questions of the police.
After being questioned for 20 minutes, he told media outside the Dang Wangi district police headquarters that he will only answer those questions in court.
Fann is being investigated under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA) for two postings on Bersih's official Facebook page.
Fann said he was initially informed by the police there was only one investigation, but an officer today told him that there are two investigation cases in total.
The first investigation is about a posting on Feb 25 which urged the public to protest against an "undemocratic backdoor government" to not let politicians selfishly dictate the future direction of the country.
The second investigation is on a posting on Feb 29 which urged citizens who were unhappy with the betrayal of the people's mandate brought about by the "Sheraton Move" to attend the protest.
"I am being investigated as the organiser of these two protests," Fann said, adding that, "I went in to give my statement, but I also exercised my rights under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code. (I wouldn't provide information) beyond the basic information about personal details of myself."
Fann asserted: "If they believe they have a case against me as the organiser, then they are free to charge me, I will then answer in court."
According to Section 112(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, someone who is being investigated shall be bound to answer all questions relating to the case.
However, if answering such questions may have a tendency to expose them to criminal charges, penalty, or forfeiture, the person may refuse to answer any questions.
'Return of the BN era'
Fann explained that while there were several protests organised by different groups after the Sheraton Move, Bersih had encouraged people to protest peacefully.
He stressed that the right to organise a peaceful assembly is the people's fundamental right under the constitution and also criticised the new government for using police investigations to silence dissidents.
"We see this as the return of BN era where they use police investigation as a tactic of intimidation, to silence social activists and opposition politicians," he said.
Fann added that, "Even during BN's era, they didn't (manage to) silence us but (their actions) angered the public even more".
"We understand that more activists will be called up for such investigations but we (will) not be intimidated," he declared.
