KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad criticised today the Court of Appeal’s recent conviction of a PKR member under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 that contradicted an earlier ruling by a separate bench that had ruled Section 9(5) of the law in his case as unconstitutional.
Nik Nazmi noted that in his own case, the Court of Appeal panel chaired by Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof ruled in April last year that Section 9(5), which imposes a maximum RM10,000 fine for not providing a 10-day notice for public gatherings, was unconstitutional, compared to the decision by the Court of Appeal bench last Thursday — chaired by Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif — to fine PKR Johor executive secretary R. Yuneswaran RM6,000 for failing to give the police a 10-day notice ahead of the Black 505 rally in 2013.
“This dramatic shift signals an era where fundamental liberties which are enshrined in the Constitution are further clouded by restrictive interpretation of the courts,” Nik Nazmi said in a statement.
“Should this matter be elevated to the Federal Court, we can only hope that the Federal Court be more courageous and just in its interpretation of the Act.
In this era of free and globalised world, archaic interpretation concerning fundamental liberties are no longer relevant — and as a matter of fact, runs counter intuitive to the development of Malaysia as a free and democratic country,” he added.
In the case of Nik Nazmi who was charged under the PAA, Ariff ruled that Section 9(5) of the Act presented “some conceptual difficulty” as the court considered peaceful assemblies lawful regardless of compliance with the 10-day notice.
Raus, however, ruled in Yuneswaran’s case that the court was “more than satisfied” that there was sufficient evidence to support the PKR man’s conviction.
