The Malaysian Bar Council has issued a statement to call for the democratic rights of Malaysians be protected and promoted instead of being stifled as currently done. It is regretted that the government has been clamping down on the freedom of movement, expression and assembly on certain groups in the past week related to the Bersih 2.0 rally scheduled for July 9. The council said that the authorities have been cracking down the groups in a ‘wanton, unjustified and wholly disproportionate’ manner.

The police also raided the office of the Bersih 2.0 secretariat office and arrested some of the personnel there while similar actions were taken to groups in other states like Perak and Penang too. The council is concerned that arrests that were made in Penang invoked the Section 122 of the Penal Code for ‘waging war against the King’ where the detainees were remanded for 7 days that include 2 juveniles. This shows that the government is attempting to limit the people’s right to express their opinions in public peacefully. It is also intimidating anyone who wants to exercise their freedom of expression right as citizens of Malaysia. The council is in support of the fundamental freedom of expression and assemble to support a cause and hence is calling on the government not to stop the people from doing so.