A group of youth wearing black shirts and personal protection equipment (PPE) wave black flags during a protest at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur July 17, 2021. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 — Three demonstrators from the Black Flag rally held at Dataran Merdeka yesterday, were fined RM2,000 each for breaching standard operating procedures of the movement control order (MCO).
The three are Mohammad Alshatri from Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) along with Muhamamd Nur Taufiq, and Mohd Asraf Sharafi both from electoral reform watchdog Bersih 2.0, were fined under section Regulation 17 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 2021.
All three were also part of the Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR), which organised the rally.
Earlier today all three demonstrators were summoned to the Dang Wangi police headquarters at 9am, where they spent three hours to assist with police investigations.
Lawyer Rajsurian Pillai who represented the trio said they were investigated under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) for failing to provide the requisite 10-day notice to the police on the rally.
When contacted, Mohammad Alshatri briefly said the protest would not be the end of the road for SSR.
“We plan to do more in the future but we will issue a statement on the matter soon,’’ he said.
Yesterday, during the protest, several youths were seen carrying black flags and urged Malaysians to express their dismay towards the government and the way the pandemic has been handled.
They also carried effigies of corpses — wrapped in white shrouds and tied at both ends, which is customary in Muslim burials — to symbolise the increasing number of deaths in Malaysia due to Covid-19.
In the rally SSR had demanded for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s resignation, a full Parliament sitting as well as an automatic loan moratorium for all.