SHAH ALAM - Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) secretary-general Amir Hariri Abd Hadi will be facing trial at the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court over a protest gathering on the littoral combat ship (LCS) issue.
On Instagram, Amir said this was after the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) rejected his representation to strike out the charge under Section 9 (1) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.
In the post, he questioned why several other cases which were similar to his were dropped while he was being tried.
He was referring to the cases involving Amanah Youth chief Hasbie Muda, Batu PKR Youth division chief Muhammad Sabda Suluh Lestari Yahya and International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) student union president Aliff Naif who were charged with failing to notify police over protest gatherings held in the city centre in July 2022.
The trio who were organisers of three separate gatherings over rising prices of goods claimed trial to the charge.
Amir claimed that unlike him, these individuals were now in the government.
"I would like to inform that my representation to have my case in connection to the #ManaKapalLCS protest to be dropped has been rejected. The case will go for trial.
"Ironically, the other cases similar to mine under Section 9 of the Act were dropped. The only difference is that they are now in the government.
"Anyway, we'll see what happens in court tomorrow," he said.
On Aug 26, 2022, Amir as the organiser of the gathering was charged with failing to inform the police officer in charge of Dang Wangi district five days before holding the assembly in front of the Sogo Complex in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman at 2pm on Aug 14, the same year.
The charge was framed under Section 9 (1) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 with the offence punishable with a maximum fine of RM10,000 under Section 9 (5) of the same act upon conviction.
On March 31, 2023, Sabda was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) by the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court after the AGC allowed his representation.
Similarly, on April 19, the same year, Hasbie was given a DNAA magistrate's court following the AGC's decision to withdaw the charge against him.