KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today allowed the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) secretary-general Amir Hariri Abd Hadi's application to refer three constitutional questions to the Federal Court.
The 33-year-old politician wanted the apex court to determine whether Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 violates the right to freedom of assembly under the Federal Constitution.
The section states that an organiser must notify the officer in charge of the police district where the assembly is to be held at least ten days before the event.
Judge Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid, in his decision, said the question required determination by the top court.
On Aug 26, 2022, Amir claimed trial at the magistrate's court to a charge of failing to notify the authorities about the #ManaKapalLCS protest held in town.
He is facing maximum RM10,000 fine upon conviction.
Amir was alleged to have been involved in organising a protest in front of Sogo, within Dang Wangi district, around 2pm on Aug 14, the same year.
However, he, as the organiser, allegedly failed to notify police about the protest five days before the event took place.
It was reported that a group of protesters had taken to the streets on Aug 14, pressing the government to answer about the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) worth RM6 billion, which have yet to be delivered to the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).
The protest was held following the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee report which disclosed that RMN's first state-of-the-art LCS was not yet completed when it was launched in 2017 and that the committee's proceedings found that LCS 1 was less than 44 per cent completed at the time of the launch.
On the day of the protest, Dang Wangi police chief Assistant Commissioner Noor Dellhan Yahaya reportedly said that the police have opened an investigation paper on the rally under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 for holding an assembly without notice and that they had summoned 13 individuals related to the protest to give their statements.