No permit for Dataran Merdeka rally

The Star
Friday November 9, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: No permit has been issued for the planned rally at Dataran Merdeka tomorrow, city CID chief Deputy Comm Datuk Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin said.

He said a non-governmental organisation sent in an application on Nov 3 for permission to hold the gathering but the application was rejected on Nov 6 by Dang Wangi OCPD Asst Comm Zulkarnain Abd Rahman.
He refused to elaborate on the reasons for the rejection. Earlier reports said that Parti Keadilan Rakyat was the main organiser of the rally.
DCP Zulhasnan said the NGO could appeal through him for a permit 48 hours before the rally.
He, however, said he had yet to receive any appeal letter from the party.
Members of the public have been advised not to take part in the gathering, as it was an offence to carry out an assembly without a permit.
He said he had also advised the NGO not to go ahead with the rally as the permit had not been issued.
“They can go to the Istana Negara to hand over their memorandum but there must be fewer than 10 people,” he added.