The bail condition set on 15 green activists requiring them to check in with police every month pending trial is “ridiculous”, said NGO Himpunan Hijau chief Wong Tack.

He said that this is as such conditions are usually only imposed on those charged with more serious crimes.

Wong (left) and 14 others were charged with illegal assembly and rioting after they refused to follow police orders to disperse during a demonstration outside the Lynas Advanced Material Plant in Gebeng, Kuantan on June 22.

All 15 have to report themselves to their respective district police headquarters in Pahang, Johor and Kuala Lumpur every month pending trial. They did so for the first time yesterday.
 
"It's a ridiculous condition... I and three others reported to the Pudu district police headquarters.
 
"Even the police officers there found it unusual that we have to report to them, they wondered what kind of serious crime we have committed," he told Malaysiakini.

Application to strike out bail condition
 
Wong said that shows that the authorities were being used to stifle their struggle against the plant which they argue is detrimental to the environment.
 
He added that their lawyer, Gobind Deo Singh is in the process of appealing to strike out the bail condition.
 
Aside from having to report to the police monthly, the Kuantan Sessions Court also imposed a gag order on them from discussing their case on social media.
 
"If by speaking to the media it is illegal, then I will face the consequences," Wong said, unperturbed.