KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — The Bar Council has prepared a team of lawyers to provide legal assistance in the event of arrests at the upcoming Bersih 4 rally in the city centre here that has been prohibited by the police.
Malaysian Bar president Steven Thiru said in a statement today that the legal team from the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre here, known as the “urgent arrest” team, can be contacted at 018-321 1506 and 011-1214 0877.
The head of the professional legal body said an SMS can be sent to one of those numbers containing the sender’s name; the name, IC number and telephone number of the person arrested; and the police station to which that person has been taken, if known.
“The urgent arrest team will try to contact the arrested person and to arrange legal assistance as quickly as possible,” Steven said.
City police have prohibited the overnight rally scheduled this weekend on grounds that Bersih 2.0 did not obtain approval from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to hold it at Dataran Merdeka, which the police dubbed as the “owner” of the public venue.
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), however, has said that the police and other enforcement authorities do not have the power to ban peaceful gatherings and told the authorities to protect rally participants instead.
