“The police have granted us permission to have our assembly at the Jalan Duta parking lot, right in front of the court entrance,” PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mat Akin told The Malaysian Insider after leaving the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali had announced on Tuesday that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will be amassing a rally of over 100,000 people in a show of support for Anwar next Monday when the High Court delivers its decision on his Sodomy II trial.
Azmin, who led the PKR delegation to meet with police here today, refused to divulge details, saying he will elaborate on the matter at a press conference later.
He said the meeting with the police went well, and thanked them for agreeing to meet PKR and “preparing to discuss the matter.”
“The venue has been chosen... we will carry on with our assembly,” Azmin told reporters here.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Mohmad Salleh confirmed the matter during a brief, joint press conference with PKR after their meeting.
“We have agreed that the assembly will be in accordance with the 2011 Peaceful Assembly Act.
“It is agreed that it will be held outside the (Jalan) Duta High Court parking area,” he said.
“We will not create any provocation, we guarantee this peaceful assembly will be well co-ordinated,” added the Gombak MP.
Azmin stressed the assembly was not a “protest rally” but a show of solidarity and support for Anwar on the day of his Sodomy II verdict.
Anwar, 64, is charged with sodomising former male aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at a condominium in upscale Damansara Heights here in June 2008, a few months before returning from a decade in the political wilderness and winning back his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat.
This represents the second time he has been prosecuted for sodomy.
If found guilty, he could spend up to 20 years behind bars but will escape the caning penalty as he is over 60. It would effectively spell the end of his political career and his chance to be prime minister.
