Malaysia: NGO under investigation for peaceful assembly
Event- Country
- Malaysia
- Initial Date
- Nov 30, 2012
- Final Date
- Feb 28, 2013
- Event Description
On 30 November 2012, the police visited the premises of SUARAM with a view of informing the organization that an investigation under Section 9 of the Peaceful Assembly Act ("Notification of assembly") had been launched, in relation to an unauthorized peaceful assembly organized by SUARAM at the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) on 18 September 2012. On 5 December 2012, Wong Kar Fai and Sarah Devaraj, staff members of SUARAM, together with Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Cynthia Gabriel, and K. Arumugam, secretariat members of SUARAM, were issued notices under Section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code ("Police officer's power to require attendance of witnesses"), in which they were ordered to appear before the Brickfield police station on 7 December with a view to recording statements under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code ("Examination of witnesses by police"). The five individuals requested the postponement of the recording to 7 January 2013. On 7 January 2013, the five individuals went to the Brickfield police station as ordered, but they reportedly remained silent as permitted under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code. UPDATE 28/02/2013: KUALA LUMPUR: The Registrar of Societies (ROS) has stopped all investigations into Suaram. The Attorney-General will also not be taking any action against Suaram in relation to the ROS investigations. Suaram lead counsel Edmund Bon told High Court judge Justice Zaleha Yusof this in chambers Thursday at the outset of their application for leave for a judicial review against the ROS notice dated Oct 5, ordering Suaram lawyer Roger Chan to produce privileged documents under Section 51(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code. Bon said Suaram, which is registered as a company - Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd - received letters from the ROS and A-G on Wednesday saying that all investigations had stopped and the case was closed. Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan confirmed the A-G would not be taking any further action. Bon asked for an adjournment to March 11, saying there were more than 10 orders/notices/summonses that were issued to various individuals who were either related or not related to Suaram. He said they wanted the A-G's Chambers to have the ROS issue a letter stating that they would withdraw or cancel all the orders/notices/summonses. He said that if they did not get the letter, they would proceed with their application for leave in court. Justice Zaleha ordered the respondents, who include the ROS, Home Minister and Inspector-General of Police, to issue the letter and fixed March 11 for case management. Related Stories: ROS probe on Suaram widens to include Tony Pua Lawyer denies giving false information on Suaram Zahid: Up to A-G's Chambers to act against Suaram CCM completing Suaram investigation papers Suaram claims police intimidation ROS probing Suaram over illegal raising of funds
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of association
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Event Location
Latitude: 3.139002999999997
Longitude: 101.686855
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 30 November 2012, police informed SUARAM, a leading Malaysian human rights group, that an investigation against the organisation had been started in relation to an unauthorized peaceful assembly organized by SUARAM at the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) on 18 September 2012. On 7 January 2013, SUARAM staff and secretariat members Wong Kar Fai and Sarah Devaraj, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Cynthia Gabriel, and K. Arumugam were summoned to Brickfield police station to record statements. UPDATE- 28/02/2013: The Registrar of Societies (ROS) has halted its investigation on SUARAM.