PETALING JAYA: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who said wearing yellow Bersih 2.0 T-shirts is illegal came under fire from lawyers and academics today who said he was “talking nonsense”.
Hishammuddin told the press this morning that the arrests of those wearing such T-shirts are justified as it is related to an illegal activity.
However, the experts said that he is wrong on both counts as neither the rally nor the T-shirt is illegal.
Professor Aziz Bari of Universiti Islam Antarabangsa asked which law Hishammuddin was referring to in declaring that T-shirts is illegal as there was none to his knowledge that supported the minister’s contention.
“It is too far-fetched and illogical,” he told FMT. “Since when is it an offence to wear a certain colour in public? The only provision that comes remotely close is acting indecently in public and I doubt that wearing a T-shirt is an offence. Hishammuddin is talking nonsense.”
Aziz added that Hishammuddin also needed to clarify under which law was the Bersih 2.0 rally planned for July 9 deemed an illegal gathering.
He pointed out that criminalising an activity is a parliamentary decision and not that of an individual minister or the police.
“There is no such thing as absolute power of the police,” he said. “In fact, it is illegal for the police to deny permits before the organisers submit an application. That would mean the police have pre-judged the rally, which is unfair.”
Barbaric manner
Fadiah Nadwa Fikri of Lawyers for Liberty rejected Hishammuddin’s statement outright, branding it an “abuse and misuse of power”.
“There is no such law prohibiting these T-shirts,” she said. “Furthermore, these T-shirts are not linked to an illegal activity because the Federal Constitution allows the right to peaceful assembly and the constitution is higher than any other law in this country.”
“Despite being elected into the United Nations Human Rights Council last year, Malaysia is still behaving in a barbaric manner.”
LoyarBuruk co-founder, Edmund Bon, meanwhile, pointed out that the law prohibited civilians only from wearing police and military uniform, while Article 10 of the Federal Constitution allows people the freedom to dress as they please.
“A rally is only considered illegal if it seeks to incite violence,” he added. “The intention of the Bersih rally is the complete opposite. Hishammuddin’s statement smacks of arrogance and is unacceptable.”
[Source: FMT]
I have been going out wearing my yellow T-shirt for the last few days and I guess I must have been lucky so far as I have not come across any of our men in blue. In fact, I will still continue to do so until July 9. Nonetheless, I hope all my friends out there will do the same. However, there are some things you can do to show solidarity :
1. Tie a yellow ribbon to your car antenna. If you are planning to get married in the next few days, have your friends do the same to their cars.
2. Have everyone in your family wear yellow, even if you going to the supermarket or the theater to see a show. It will be fun to see how they are going to arrest babies in yellow prams, wearing yellow diapers, yellow baby cap and yellow baby clothes playing with a yellow Tweety bird.
3. Carry yellow umbrellas.
4. Wear yellow slippers.
5. Have your laptop bags don with a yellow ribbon.
6. You might try reverse psychology. Instead of a yellow T-shirt, wear a pair of yellow pants or shorts.
The above are just some of my ideas. You can be as creative as you want to be. Just drive those PDRM fellas CRAAAAZY!!!
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