KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah students will continue their peaceful protest over the water shortage issue at their campus despite not having received a permit from the police.
The protest, known as #KamiMahuAir (#WeWantWater), will take place today.
Participants plan to rally from the university campus to the Sabah State Administrative Complex, also known as Menara Kinabalu, after Friday prayers.
In a statement from the secretariat, they explained that the response from Kota Kinabalu police chief Asst Comm Kasim Muda contradicts comments made by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain, who said that a permit is not required for peaceful protests.
Quoting Razarudin from a statement published by portal MalaysiaGazette on March 4 this year, the secretariat said that organisers of peaceful protests are not subjected to such rules as having to give a five-day notice ahead of the event.
“The #KamiMahuAir secretariat sent our notice on June 6, in accordance with the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (Amendment 2019).“This rally will be organised in the spirit of Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, which affirms that every Malaysian citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression, provided it does not address sensitive issues,” the statement reads.
The statement also mentioned that the police called secretariat representatives on June 10 but did not provide any updates on the rally.
“We find the statement from the Kota Kinabalu police chief, who claimed that the police could not contact us, very confusing.
“They only contacted one of the two numbers provided in our notice.
“His statement contradicts the IGP’s remarks on the permit issue. As such, we will proceed with our plan to hold the peaceful rally,” the statement concluded.
