The police are acting illegally by attempting to prohibit the proposed Bersih rally on Aug 29-30, the Bar Council said today. The Bar said a requirement of a permit under the Police Act for holding an assembly had been repealed in 2012 and the Peaceful Assembly Act only required that the police be informed of an intended assembly. "There is no requirement of licensing by the police for an assembly under the Peaceful Assembly Act," said Bar Council president Steven Thiru in a statement today. The police had no power to prohibit a rally, and the announcement by the police that the Bersih rally had been "disallowed" was contrary to the Act and legally flawed. He said a recent Court of Appeal decision had upheld the constitutional right to assemble peaceably and that failure to give notice would not be subject to criminal sanction under the Act. Thiru pointed out that the deputy Inspector General of Police, Noor Rashid Ibrahim, had been reported to have said that the police would not object to the rally and that the public had the right to gather and voice out their dissatisfaction under the Constitution. "The reversal of this decision now is perplexing and untenable," Thiru said. He urged the police to respect the constitutional guarantee of the right to assemble peaceably and without arms. "This is a duty imposed by law on the police," he said, and not a question of their "tolerance' of citizens exercising their constitutional right. "The police should also learn from their past mistakes in mishandling and deterring public assemblies," Thiru said, pointing to criticisms of police actions by Suhakam, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia which had noted "disproportionate force and misconduct by the police" at the Bersih rally of 2012. "The actions of the police were driven more by anger, frustration and the need to inflict punishment than by duty," Thiru said, quoting from Suhakam's report. He said the Bar was appalled by the lack of police action against the intimidation and harassment by a group of about 30 people against Bersih organiser Maria Chin Abdullah. Thiru strongly criticised Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor for reportedly having said Bersih participants could do whatever they wanted by assembling in a stadium: "you want to shout, want to be naked, do whatever you like." He said the Bar was revolted by the minister's callous remark and ignorance of and disrespect for the citizens' rights.