Sunday, August 20, 2006

Police disallow Anwar Ibrahim's Public Gathering

The PKR wants to hold a massive gathering today at Pantai Dalam where Anwar Ibrahim would be present. Apparently Anwar will present his views on the current Mahathir versus AAB stoush.

Police nix-ed it on the basis that the owner of the property on which the event is to be held, an open parking lot of an apartment block, hasn’t given permission.

PKR organiser Mohd Zaman Md Tasi admitted that the owner of the apartment block, NPE Property Development had told the organisers in separate letter that it would not allow PKR to use the car park of Perumahan Pantai Permai in Kampung Kerinchi for the gathering.

The reason was that the gathering would deprive residents of their parking space and cause crowd-related problems.

The Brickfields district police chief ACP Mohd Dzuraidi Ibrahim said that the application for a permit has been rejected as the organisers had failed to obtain permission from the private owner to use the venue.

But Mohd Zaman said this wasn’t the first time venue owners had come under political pressure to stop such opposition events. He is insistent that the function would go on despite the lack of a police permit as the designated venue was an open space and that more than 200 volunteers would be at hand to ensure security and smooth traffic flow.

Kickoff time is 9:00 pm. I wonder whether the FRU will be there?

Personally I don’t hold much credence for Anwar Ibrahim’s views or statements, but I believe it’s wrong to deny him, a Malaysian citizen, the right to speak out on political issues relevant to Malaysians.

He should be allowed to have his gathering without any police intervention.

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