KLANG: There should be no issue between 'permits' or a 'notice' for holding rallies as permits are no longer needed to hold peaceful assemblies, says the Inspector-General of police.
Tan Sri Razarudin Hussain said police are aware that permits are no longer needed to hold rallies, adding that some officers in charge of police districts (OCPDs) might have mistakenly used the term 'permit' interchangeably with notice.
He reminded rally organisers to submit their notices at least five days before their assembly as stipulated under Section 9 of the Peaceful Assembly Act.
"Some OCPDs might have mistakenly said'permits' and not 'notices' which have led to the confusion of many parties. There should be no issue between permits and notices.
"We are still following the Peaceful Assembly Act. Please don't send in your notices two days before the assembly or sometimes we only get to know about it through WhatsApp and Facebook.
"We also have to plan our officers and the traffic. We are not restricting the people's freedom (to assemble)" he said to reporters after the handing over of keys ceremony for the Bandar Sultan Suleiman police quarters, here, today.
Razarudin added that rally organisers would also need to fulfill 14 criteria under Section 10 of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 that are listed when they fill up the form at the respective police stations.
He reminded the public that those who did not abide by the Peaceful Assembly Act would be punished according to the law.
Razarudin was responding to statements made by former Petaling Jaya member of Parliament Maria Chin Abdullah who said the Home Ministry should ensure that police are aware that permits are no longer needed to hold rallies.
She was responding to Women's March Malaysia (WMMY), who claimed the police had denied its notice four times for this year's Women's March.
The march is scheduled to take place in Kuala Lumpur this weekend.
WMMY had however managed to serve their notice to the Dang Wangi police earlier today.
Razarudin said in the case of WMMY, they might have not fulfilled the 14 stated criteria which has led to the denial of their notices.
"Sometimes the organisers might not fulfill certain criteria such as obtaining the approval of the landowners so we also take that into account," he said.
He said he would look into the rejection pf WMMY's notice with the respective OCPD.
When asked why no reason was given to WMMY for the denial of their notices, he stated it was not the standard practice to do so.
"Usually, the organisers will discuss with the OCPD why their notices are denied. Surely, they might have not fulfilled some of the criteria," he said.
During the event, Razarudin expressed his gratitude to the government who had allocated RM1.9million to improve the Bandar Sultan Suleiman police quarters.