NGO lodges report over alleged police intimidation outside Parliament

2026-01-28 - 07:41

Zaid Malek, Wong Ku Kui and Mahajoth Singh after filing the report at the Sentul police headquarters today. KUALA LUMPUR: A civil society group filed a police report today against a police officer, accusing him of intimidating the group during a peaceful assembly outside Parliament on Jan 22. In the report filed at the Sentul police headquarters, Mandiri accused the officer of provoking participants with inappropriate language and aggressively intimidating those present. Lawyer Zaid Malek, representing Mandiri, said the incident highlighted police officers’ lack of understanding of the Federal Constitution, particularly Article 10, which guarantees the right to peaceful assembly. “It is a fundamental right of every Malaysian, but when people exercise this right, police intimidate them by shouting, behaving like gangsters and acting as if they are about to assault people merely exercising their rights,” he said. Zaid said they stated in their report that the policeman’s action constituted criminal offences under sections 503 and 504 of the Penal Code, for criminal intimidation and insults with intent to breach the peace. “The police intimidation was intended to prevent people from exercising their right to assemble, and was also a deliberate act to provoke tensions,” he said. He also said that despite widespread media coverage after a video of the incident went viral, there had been no apology from the police, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail or Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Fellow lawyer Mahajoth Singh called on Saifuddin to state his position on the incident and take responsibility, saying it was “unacceptable for a minister to remain silent when an officer under his ministry has allegedly violated the law”. Previously, Malaysiakini reported that the assembly’s participants had gathered outside Parliament last Thursday to hand over a memorandum seeking reforms to Malaysia’s law on cannabis. Mandiri coordinator Wong Ku Kui said a policeman not in full uniform started accusing protesters of being under the influence of drugs and had threatened to arrest them. He shared a short video clip of the alleged incident, showing some protesters arguing with a man believed to be a police officer, based on his sidearm.