Charge delayed further for Bersih activists

The charge against six employees of Bersih 2.0-linked NGO Empower has been put on hold again.

They were scheduled to be charged at the Petaling Jaya magistrate's court today under Section 47 and Section 48(1) of the Societies Act, with assisting and publishing propaganda of an unlawful society.

"It was supposed to  have taken place yesterday, but they (the police) postponed it and told us to come here today and now they say that the prosecution wants to keep the matter on hold for the time being," said their lawyer Honey Tan.

"It is not just frustrating but very unfair. We were already prepared for it today and this happens," she said.

The police raided the Empower office, which doubled as Bersih's secretariat, in Section 4, Petaling Jaya on June 29 as part of a preventitive crackdown before tomorrow's rally.

The authorities seized Bersih 2.0 leaflets and T-shirts, and detained six Empower staff and one volunteer for questioning.

'Police should not dilly-dally'

The six include Mary Sinappan, Ikhsan Samat, Temme Lee, Deepa Nair Balakrishnan, Lau Shu Shi and Ang Hiok Gai.

The group waited more than an hour before the investigating officer of the case informed the lawyer of the changes.

However, it is not known whether the charges are being dropped or postponed to another day, said Tan (right).

"On Wednesday everyone had to go back to the police department as they had been released on police bail.

"They were told the charge would be issued yesterday, but it was pushed to today.

"And today they told us it was being delayed to a later date, which is to be decided," she added, looking frustrated.

If the police and the prosecution have the necessary evidence, Tan said, they should not dilly-dally on the matter.

In a nationwide crackdown on supporters of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0), the police have nabbed more than 200 people in the run up to tomorrow's rally, mainly for wearing yellow Bersih T-shirts.

The shirts and other Bersih paraphernalia were banned after the coalition was outlawed last week.