Case History: Jannie Lasimbang
On 21 December 2016, Jannie Lasimbang was acquitted of all charges.
On 21 October 2015, human rights defender Ms. Jannie Lasimbang was charged in the Magistrate’s Court in Kotu Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur.
The Court charged her on two counts of organising an illegal assembly and two counts of failing to comply with conditions imposed by the police last August, during a series of planned assemblies.
Jannie Lasimbang is the chairperson of Bersih in the northern state of Sabah, which is a coalition of non-government organisations seeking to reform the current electoral system in Malaysia.
On 21 October 2015, human rights defender Ms. Jannie Lasimbang was charged in the Magistrate’s Court in Kotu Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur.
The Court charged her on two counts of organising an illegal assembly and two counts of failing to comply with conditions imposed by the police last August, during a series of planned assemblies.
On 29 and 30 August 2015, the fourth series of planned assemblies were organised by Bersih in major cities in Malaysia, namely Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. There were subsequent assemblies in over 70 cities around the world in support of the main assemblies in Malaysia, including neighbouring countries such as Singapore.
The overnight rally on August 29 to August 30 held in Kota Kinabalu had more than 1,000 people in attendance but ended two hours shy of its 24-hour target after a police barricade stopped some 500 assembly participants from walking towards the city.
Ms. Jannie Lasimbang was questioned by the police immediately after the Bersih 4.0 assembly ended, along with the other organisers, volunteers and speakers. She was not arrested, it therefore came as surprise to the human rights defender to be charged nearly two months later.
The charges she faces fall under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 section 9 (1), for failing to give the police ten days notice before holding the Bersih 4.0 assembly on August 29 and the same charge on August 30. She also faces two alternative charges under Section 15 (3) of the same Act for failing to comply with conditions imposed by the police to obtain approval from the City Hall on the use of its venue for gathering purposes. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted under either charge, the human rights defender faces a maximum fine of RM10,000 (2,120 EUR)
The Magistrate Cindy Mc Juce Balitus allowed her bail of RM3,000 (620 EUR) on each charge, and set the court date for 13 November for case management and 23 and 24 November to hear the case.
The human rights defender is the first person to be charged for the Bersih 4.0 assemblies. Others are expected to be charged as well following the recent declaration by the Court of Appeal that section 9(5) of the Act was not unconstitutional.
