Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani vowed to take stern action against any “stubborn” quarters that either organise or join in a protest.
This came after Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR) threatened to hold a second #Lawan street rally on Aug 21 if Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin doesn’t resign by then.
Without naming the group, Acryl Sani (above) said police are aware of SSR’s plan and warned that this violates National Recovery Plan SOPs, and risks public health amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Police ask for the public not to join any activities against the laws and SOPs in effect.
Over past days Malaysians have watched as unmanaged crowds of people have milled dangerously outside vaccination centres, which have now opened their doors with a chaotic lack of organisation.
One such centre was forced to close after over 200 staff and volunteers contracted the virus they were seeking to defeat. How many of the thousands who passed through also ended up sick rather than saved is not yet known.
Where have the police been who could have made themselves useful in preventing such unsafe violations of the SOPs during the Pandemic? No where in sight it seems.
Instead, they have indulged in the politically motivated harassment of people exercising their rights of protest in a democracy. The Lawan protestors have managed themselves admirably, taking care to observe social distancing rules and not to cause trouble nor inconvenience, merely to make their views known.
This compared to the herds of people pressing into vaccination centres, who have been rubbing up against each other for hours in ill-managed chaos trying to get their vaccines.
The IGP ought to be deeply ashamed of himself. He ought to leave alone those whom he has no right to threaten and he should do his job, which is to protect citizens from real danger, such as that posed by the crowd mismanagement at mass vaccination centres across the country.