Maria Chin, seven others charged with participating in #KitaLawan street demonstration

Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah and seven others pleaded not guilty in three Magistrate's Courts here to a charge under the Peaceful Assembly Act with participating in the #KitaLawan street demonstration last March 28.

They were charged in three separate courts with participating in the street demonstration which was held to call for reformation and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's release, protest against the Goods and services Tax (GST) for freedom of speech and freedom to assemble.

Maria, Jingga 13 chairman Mohd Fariz Abd Talib@Musa, Bersih 2.0 secretariat manager Mandeep Singh and Bayan Baru Member of Parliament Sim Tze Tzin were charged before Magistrate Muhamad Faizal Ismail.

They were charged with others still at large with participating in a street demonstration from in front of a fountain at the Jalan Tun Perak until the Sogo Complex between 3.15 pm and 6 pm last March 28.

They were allowed bail of RM500 in one surety each and the court set Oct 16 for mention.

In another court room, before Magistrate Mohd Rehan Mohd Aris, activist Adam Adli Abd Halim, 26, and Mohd Fariz, 45, pleaded not guilty to a charge of participating in a similar demonstration which started in front of the Sogo Complex and ended at Esplanade KLCC here between 4 pm and 7.30 pm last Feb 28.

They were allowed bail of RM500 in one surety and mention date for the case was fixed on Oct 19.

Meanwhile, Teja Assemblyman Chang Lih Kang, 35; special aid to Batu Member of Parliament (MP) Rozan Azen Mat Rasip, 38, and Parti Keadilan Rakyat member Lee Chean Chung, 34, also pleaded not guilty to a similar charge.'

They were charged with committing the offence between the Sogo Complex and the fountain at the Jalan Tun Perak intersection between 4.30 pm and 5.05 pm last March 21.

Magistrate Ashraf Rezal Abdul Manan allowed them bail of RM500 in one surety and set Oct 16 for mention.

All of them were charged under Section 4(2)(c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act and face a maximum fine of RM10,000, if found guilty.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutors Wan Shaharuddin, Musli Ab Hamid and Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharudin, while the accused were represented by lawyers Ramkarpal Singh Deo, Datuk S.Ambiga, Amer Hamzah Arshad, Latheefa Koya and Eric Paulsen.

PKR president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Batu MP Tian Chua, and several supporters who were clad in the yellow T-shirt with the words Bersih 4.0 on it, were at the court to lend their support.