Attorney-general urged to drop PAA charges against MP

Ipoh Sessions Court fixes hearing on constitutionality of provisions in the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 under which Ipoh Timur MP Thomas Su Keong Siong is charged.

Thomas-Su-Keong-Siong_law_600 PETALING JAYA: A lawyer for Ipoh Timur MP Thomas Su Keong Siong has urged the attorney-general (AG) to withdraw charges laid under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) on the DAP legislator over his involvement in a rally held without a permit in 2013.

In a statement today, M Kulasegaran claimed that the charges were unreasonable and unwarranted, and that the event was a political rally.

Earlier today, Su’s lawyers had filed a notice of motion to set aside or quash and/or stay the proceedings at the Ipoh Sessions Court.

Su was charged under Sections 9(1) & 9(5) of the PAA for allegedly failing to submit the 10-day notice as required under the legislation to the Ipoh district police chief prior to the “Blackout 505” rally held on May 9, 2013, at Dewan Wisma Chin Woo in Ipoh at about 7.30pm.

If convicted, he faces a maximum fine of RM10,000.

His other lawyer, Gobind Singh Deo, argued during the application today that there were two conflicting decisions in the Court of Appeal in the cases of Selangor PKR’s Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and Johor PKR’s R Yuneswaran for organising similar rallies.

He said the courts had held that the PAA provisions were unconstitutional in the case of Nik Nazmi and constitutional in the case of Yuneswaran.

“DPP Nur Qistini has requested for time to reply, and thus our application for stay on Su’s case in the Ipoh Sessions Court until the final disposal of this application is granted by High Court judge Che Ruzima,” Kulasegaran said.

He added that the court fixed Nov 17 for the hearing of the matter.

“In view of the latest developments, I urge the AG to drop the charges against Su,” he said,

“What he did in 2013 was a political rally and the charges against him are unreasonable and unwarranted,” he added.

Su, 51, claimed trial after he was charged for the second time in the Sessions Court on Oct 14 last year, with organising an illegal rally.

The court has fixed the case for hearing on Oct 6.

On May 27, 2013, Su was charged by the same court with a similar offence, and on May 16, 2014, the court granted him a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

Judge Rushan Lufti Mohd had then said the court was bound by an earlier Court of Appeal decision that the 10-day notice under the PAA was not consistent with the Federal Constitution.

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