SHAH ALAM, Feb 23 — A senior police official today condemned the individuals behind a series of rallies planned to show solidarity with jailed Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as instigators without purpose.
Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) Crime Prevention Department Director Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said today that such demonstrations force the police to deploy resources to secure such events from spiralling out of control.
“This rally or demonstration is something that is instigated by several public members who truly do not have anything better to do,” Acryl said when asked to comment on police preparedness for an upcoming pro-Anwar rally.
“But of course, the police will plan the necessary action to ensure that whatever will be done does not go overboard or out of control,” he told reporters during a press conference at Universiti Institut Teknologi Mara (UiTM) here.
Police previously arrested three people for participating in such rallies.
Two days ago, activists Adam Adli Abdul Halim and Fariz Musa were detained at a rally outside a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur.
They also attempted to arrest PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad at the same rally, but were prevented from doing so during a commotion. He was arrested at his home last night.
On February 10, the Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s 2014 ruling that had reversed Anwar’s acquittal of sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, also sentencing him to five years’ jail.
Anwar maintained that the charge was politically driven kill off his career, a charge that Putrajaya has repeatedly denied.
