Appeals court rules Home Minister's order to ban Bersih 4 yellow t-shirts unreasonable
PUTRAJAYA: The ban on Bersih 4 T-shirts and pamphlets was quashed by the Appeal Court today.
It held that the Home Minister's ban last year on Bersih 4 T-shirts, pamphlets or any articles alike, was "unreasonable".
The three-member panel, chaired by judge Datuk Zawawi Salleh, agreed with the submission by the electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 that the ban was "too wide" and had "no proper grounds".
"The minister's order was based on reasons that occurred after the (Bersih 4) assembly and not at the time the order was made.
"The order is based on unreasonable conditions and we agree with the (appellant's) submission. We allow the appeal ... with no other discourse," he said.
Questioning the minister's reasons or grounds for gazetting the ban last year, the panel said the minister's reason to exercise his power to gazette the order was not justified with facts.
Zawawi agreed with appellant's counsel, Edmund Bon, that the minister had failed to show how the Bersih 4 T-shirts and pamphlets were prejudicial to public order.
On Feb 19, the Shah Alam High Court upheld the Home Ministry's ban on the T-shirts and paraphernalias of the Bersih 4 mass rally for electoral reform on Aug 29-30, 2015, which would affect thousands in possession of the yellow garment.
The panel, which also comprised Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli and Datuk Asmabi Mohamad, requested for time to deliver its written judgment as it is a case of public interest.