Fifty activists were charged at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court today over the sit-in protest at the Federal Territories Customs Department headquarters on March 23.

All accused claim trial to the charge under Section 21(1)(d) of the Peaceful Assembly Act read together with Section 447 of the Penal Code for criminal trespass and not abiding by the police's orders to disperse.

Upon conviction, they can be fined up to RM20,000. Justice Azwarnida Affandi set bail at RM1,500. All were released but they have to return to court on May 26 for mention.

The court also issued arrest warrants for four others who did not appear in court today. They will have to appear for a hearing on April 28.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Mohd Nordin Ismail sought for bail to be set at RM5,000.

Those charged comprise nine students, four DAP members, one PAS member while the rest were Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members. Among them were 16 women.

They were represented by nine lawyers: Gobind Singh Deo, Sangeet Kaur Deo, Roger Chan, Mohd Zaki Sukery, Maha Ramakrishnan, Chan Yen Hui, Dinesh Muthal, Ravin Jay and Joanne Chua.

Gobind said it was unfair to set a high bail as the group mostly consisted of low income earners.

"Most of them have appeared in court today because they are not guilty. It is not fair to charge them an excessive fine when they are already financially struggling," he told the court.

On March 23, about 100 activists staged the sit-in after the authorities prevented them from posing 106 questions to the custom department's GST information centre.

Following this, police arrested 82 of them. Two days later , 25 activists were charged under the same law.