KOTA KINABALU, Oct 21 — The organiser of Sabah’s edition of Bersih 4 claimed trial today to breaching provisions under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 during the August gathering.
In the main charge under Section 9(5) of the Act, Jannie Lasimbang was accused of failing to provide a 10-day notice for each of the two days the public gathering was held..
She was also read an alternative charge under Section 15(3) of the Act for organising the event without fulfilling all instructions ordered by the city police chief Asst Comm M. Chandra on both days, to which she pleaded not guilty.
If convicted under either charge, Lasimbang faces a maximum fine of RM10,000.
Lasimbang’s counsel Ram Singh urged the court to set bail at RM500, pointing out that his client’s family is in Sabah and that she was not likely to abscond.
“She is a former Suhakam commissioner and a true Sabahan, she won’t abscond,” he added, referring to the acronym for the Malaysian Human Rights Commission.
Magistrate Cindy Mc Juce Balitus set trial for November 23 and 24, and ordered Lasimbang to post bail of RM3,000 with a deposit of RM1,000 for each charge.
The case was prosecuted by deputy public prosecutor Chow Siang Kong who asked for bail to be set at RM5,000.
The overnight rally on August 29 to August 30 was held along Kota Kinabalu’s Likas bay esplanade and saw some 3,000 in attendance on the first day.
It ended two hours shy of its 24-hour target after a police barricade stopped some 500 rally participants from walking towards the city.
They were roughly at the halfway mark of reaching their targeted destination of the Kota Kinabalu City Hall building to hand over a memorandum asking for their rights to hold a peaceful assembly in a public space.
Asst Comm Chandra was reported saying numerous times that the rally was unlawful and had warned action against its organisers as well as participants for participating in a street protest.
