Cops identify 29 individuals in #Lawan rally probe
IGP Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani has confirmed that police have identified 29 individuals as part of their investigations into the #Lawan rally that was held at Dataran Merdeka yesterday.
He said individuals who took part will be investigated under Act 342 and Regulation 17 (1) of the Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Regulations (PPPDPB) (Measures in Local Areas of Infection (National Rehabilitation Plan) 2021 and other relevant acts.
“The police issued several reminders prior to the rally to follow SOPs and warned that action would be taken,” he said, adding that more than 20 police reports were made on the matter.
Yesterday, Kuala Lumpur police chief Azmi Abu Kassim also confirmed in a statement that investigations into the “#Lawan” rally held at Dataran Merdeka were underway.
“An estimated 450 individuals gathered at Dataran Masjid Jamek at 11.30am, the group marched through Jalan Tun Perak towards Jalan Raja while carrying banners,” he said.
Hundreds of individuals marched from the Masjid Jamek Light Rail Transit (LRT) Station to Dataran Merdeka, protesting what they called the poor administration of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and asked for his government to step down.
The group wore black shirts, were seen carrying black flags, banners in protest and even replicas of corpses to depict the loss of life to Covid-19.
Azmi said that police had also received a 14-second viral video showing a mass procession on the road purportedly in Kuala Lumpur but that a police check found that the incident did not take place in Kuala Lumpur.
He said the public was advised not to spread something that was not authentic.
Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that five members of Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR) have been called up for police questioning in connection with their roles as organisers of the protest.
Lawyer Rajsurian Pillai said that the police have scheduled the questioning for tomorrow.
SSR identified the five individuals as Mohamad Abdullah Alshatry, Mohammad Asraf Sharafi Mohammad Azhar, Tharmelinggem Pillai, Qyira Yusri and Sevan Doraisamy.
The three main demands of the protest, respectively, were calling for Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's resignation, for Parliament to continue sitting and for an automatic loan moratorium for all Malaysians.
SSR expressed regret that they were prevented from gathering at Dataran Merdeka as originally planned, arguing it was a much larger space to facilitate a safe social distancing.
“We successfully managed to adhere to the standard operating procedures with all protesters wearing their masks and keeping their distance from one another,” they said.
