Tangkap MO1 rally – court upholds UKM student's suspension

A Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia student's appeal to challenge his suspension for taking part in the “Tangkap MO1|” rally in August 2016 was today dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

A three-member bench led by Justice Rohana Yusof ruled in a unanimous decision that there was no error made against Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi (above) by the High Court judge.

"The (High Court) decision is affirmed," she said.

The bench also comprised Justice Harminder Singh Dhaliwal and Justice Rhodzariah Bujang. They made no order as to costs.

Throughout proceedings, the appellate bench questioned counsel Surendra Ananth for Asheeq whether the mode of the application should have been by way of judicial review rather than by originating summons.

Surendra submitted that the UKM rule that barred students from participating in demonstrations outside the campus was in violation of Article 10 of the Federal Constitution regarding freedom of expression and assembly.

"He was among those who participated in the (“Tangkap MO1”) rally last August where the students had wanted to gather at Dataran Merdeka but were denied. As a result, they held it at Jalan Raja Laut (below).

"Asheeq was questioned by police but was not charged. Several weeks later the university took action on him for participating in the rally despite no charge being made by the authorities.

“Following this, the challenge on the UKM regulation is mounted and the appeal," he added.

Justice S Nantha Balan at the High Court had dismissed Asheeq's originating summons, saying Section 15 (3) of the University and University Colleges Act (UUCA) as employed by UKM was constitutional.

The judge said the students should have filed a judicial review instead but despite this, the High Court heard the case on its merits.

“UM and UKM are public authorities and the disciplinary action taken against the students was based on the rules, which are statutory provisions (by way of subsidiary legislation), which grant universities the right to take action against the students for breach of discipline.

“Hence, there is more than a sufficient element of public law to attract the remedies of administrative law, making it amenable for judicial review including seeking the declarations being sought in the present originating summons,” the judge said, adding on that grounds alone, the court should have struck out the suit.

Asheeq, then a third-year UKM law student, was suspended for one semester and fined RM200 on Nov 15, 2016 for his involvement in the "Tangkap MO1" rally held at on Aug 27 that year.

The rally was organised following the US Department of Justice's court filing which said that one "Malaysian Official 1" received US$731 million that originated from 1MDB.- Mkini