Bantah GST Coalition demands charges to be dropped

PUTRAJAYA: The Bantah GST Coalition have forwarded a letter to the Attorney-General's Chambers demanding for all 79 charges against them for their involvement in the protest at the Kelana Jaya Customs Department on March 23 to be dropped.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S. Arutchelvan said the letter, which was directed to the AG Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, was received by his officials.
"They will talk to the AG and will bring this issue up to him. They were attentive (when we were talking to them)," he told reporters here today.
Seventy nine individuals were charged under Section 21(1)(d) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, including Arutchelvan, other activists, NGOs and members of the public for allegedly assembling and forwarding a list of 106 questions regarding the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) at the department.
Arutchelvan also questioned the significance of pursuing the case, citing it to be "a waste of money and time when there are other more important cases to be dealt with".
"What we did was also consistent with our constitutional rights to freedom of assembly. With all these things, why would they want to pursue this case?" he said.
"We were charged for intrusion, but we have actually received approval the day before, prior to coming to the customs department on March 23. How can they charge us for intrusion? " he added.
Arutchelvan also said that 25 of them are out on bail of RM3,000 each, while the remaining 54 individuals are out on bail of RM1,500 each.
He added that the next mention date for the 79 individuals is on Aug 13 at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court.