Peaceful assembly is a people’s right, not a privilege granted by the government

I REFER to the statement by Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who urged the public to obey the law when participating in rallies protesting Israel’s detention of the Global Sumud Flotilla humanitarian activists ("Show your solidarity responsibly, rallygoers told", The Star, Oct 4).

While the call for peaceful and orderly gatherings is reasonable, his statement fails to reflect the reality on the ground. In many instances, Malaysians who assemble peacefully to express their views on or solidarity with issues have faced unnecessary police interference and even rough treatment.

Recently, two incidents illustrate this clearly. On Oct 2, 2025, during a peaceful assembly outside the United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to protest the detention of Global Sumud Flotilla activists, tensions flared when the police blocked entry and exit routes to the embassy and detained several participants.

Earlier, in September 2025, a group of plantation workers accompanied by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) gathered peacefully outside Parliament to submit a memorandum and a proposal for a Bill calling for housing rights for local plantation workers. Despite giving prior notice to the police, PSM deputy chairperson S. Arutchelvan reported that he and several participants were roughed up and later summoned for investigation under Section 353 of the Penal Code.

These two incidents show that the police continue to disregard the constitutional and judicial principles governing the right to peaceful assembly.

On July 1, 2025, the Federal Court, in Amir Hariri Abd Hadi v. Public Prosecutor [2025] 5 MLRA 395, delivered a landmark decision striking down Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 as unconstitutional. The court held that criminalising organisers for failing to give prior notice was a disproportionate and unreasonable restriction on the right to peaceful assembly guaranteed under Article 10(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution.

The court reaffirmed a crucial constitutional principle – that the right to peaceful assembly must not be criminalised or obstructed by unnecessary restrictions. The notice requirement under the Peaceful Assembly Act exists only as an administrative mechanism to enable coordination and safety, not as a tool to punish organisers or suppress public participation.

In effect, the court’s decision makes clear that the role of the police is to facilitate and protect the people’s constitutional right to assemble peacefully.

The incidents at Parliament and the US Embassy clearly show that the police have yet to act in accordance with this constitutional principle. The law is now clear – the duty of the police is not to obstruct or intimidate citizens, but to facilitate and safeguard their right to assemble peacefully.

YB Saifuddin should recall history. In 1998, following the sacking of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, hundreds of peaceful assemblies were organised by political parties that are now in government. At that time, many of those parties' members faced arrests, blockades, and police brutality even as they argued that the people had the constitutional right to gather peacefully. Now that they are in power, those same principles must not be forgotten.

In Malaysia, the people gather not merely for partisan politics, but to voice their frustrations over issues that strangle their daily lives – rising prices, stagnant wages, burdensome taxes, and repeated fuel price hikes. History has shown that when the government raised fuel prices and living costs, the people took to the streets not to create chaos, but to express the hardship they were facing and to demand justice. Peaceful protest is an act of conscience, not rebellion.

I urge the authorities to ensure that the police act as facilitators, not obstacles, in every peaceful assembly; that the Home Affairs Ministry issues a clear directive to the Royal Malaysia Police to fully comply with the Federal Court’s ruling of July 1, 2025; that all ongoing investigations and charges against peaceful assembly participants be immediately dropped; and that the government must remain consistent in upholding the right to assemble – whether the participants support the government or the Opposition.

The right to peaceful assembly is not a privilege granted by the government; it is a fundamental right of the people, guaranteed by the Federal Constitution. A government that truly respects the rule of law does not fear the people’s voice, it protects their right to express it peacefully and safely.

“The right to assemble belongs to the people – not to those in power.”

KUNASEKARAN

Ipoh