The magistrates’ court here will decide this Friday whether Mandiri executive director Amir Hadi will be given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) or be discharged and acquitted (DAA) of a 2022 charge related to a peaceful assembly.
Amir’s lawyer Rajsurian Pillai said deputy public prosecutor Anis Wahidah Mohamad told the court today that the prosecution had applied for a DNAA.
“The defence does not object to the prosecution’s withdrawal of the case, but we are seeking a DAA.
“After hearing arguments from both sides, the court will deliver its decision this Friday,” he told FMT.
Amir, a former Muda secretary-general, claimed trial to failing to notify the police five days before organising the “Where are the LCS?” protest outside the Sogo complex in August 2022.
He was charged under Section 9(1) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, punishable under Section 9(5) of the same Act, which carries a maximum fine of RM10,000 upon conviction.
He subsequently filed a constitutional challenge against Section 9(5) of the Act, and the High Court referred the question to the Federal Court.
On July 1, the Federal Court unanimously ruled that it is unconstitutional to criminalise the failure to notify the police five days in advance of holding a peaceful assembly.
Then chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat said Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 imposed a punishment that exceeds the limits permitted under Article 10(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of speech, assembly, and association.
She said the section was “a disproportionate intervention” and amounted to a prohibition rather than a restriction of that right.
