Saturday May 11, 2013

GE13: No permit issued for Kelana Jaya rally, says OCPD

PETALING JAYA: Police have denied issuing a permit to the organisers of an opposition rally held at the Kelana Jaya stadium on Wednesday night.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohammed said only a letter was issued to the organisers urging them to postpone the rally to another date.

ACP Arjunaidi dismissed allegations by certain quarters that the rally had been given the green light by the authorities.

He said the document uploaded online was an application letter to apply for a permit by the organisers.

Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad had signed the letter.

“I did not sign any approval letter for the gathering but only issued a letter urging them to postpone the event which was deemed illegal.

“I only received the application letter at 12.20pm on the day of the gathering,” said ACP Arjunaidi, adding that the organisers had given the police very short notice.

He said police had asked for the gathering to be postponed for sufficient time to organise its manpower and alert the public of the impending event.

ACP Arjunaidi said he did not have the opportunity to discuss several matters with the organisers, such as road usage and parking bays, due to their failure to submit the required 10 days' notice in advance.

“However, we still deployed a few policemen to maintain traffic order around the stadium,” he said, adding that the gathering created massive traffic congestion and the police control room received many complaints from the public.

ACP Arjunaidi also stressed that no specific area in the country had been gazetted for gatherings and this included the Kelana Jaya stadium.

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