Najib had said the individuals did not manage to disrupt his meeting. — File picKUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — Human rights group Proham today condemned the Malaysians who disrupted Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s speech in London on Tuesday night, adding that such behaviour was “unruly” and “disrespectful”.

At the “Sepetang Bersama Perdana Menteri” (An Evening with the Prime Minister) event, attended by about 1,500 people, several individuals were heard chanting “Bersih” as the prime minister was giving his speech, Bernama reported yesterday.

“While Proham has always upheld the freedom of assembly and expression as basic human rights, one must not act in an improper way in a public gathering, especially when our prime minister is speaking,” Proham said in a statement today.

“We must show respect to the office and the person at all times, even if we disagree with the views of the host or the guest, [in] accordance with our Malaysian culture,” it added.

It also called on Malaysians to review their methods of public expression so that human rights are promoted with responsibility and “not violate the standards of decency, politeness and propriety.”

Yesterday, Najib said the attempt by the individuals to create a commotion at his meeting with the Malaysians in London did not sully the event.

“It did not disturb me and the situation could be controlled after two or three minutes. We will be showing the overall video recording of the function,” he told Malaysian journalists.

He said the move to show the video was taken as certain quarters might try to paint a different picture of the incident.

“So, we need to correct the perception, to show what really happened, and many attended the function yesterday including Malaysia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Datuk Seri Zakaria Sulong,” he said.

Najib said guests at the function were largely warm and friendly to him, they “salam” with him while giving him words of encouragement and many also asked to be photographed with him.

“This was a case of a small minority group trying to dominate a situation.

“That is why as the majority, we should not allow this and not feel pressured in this matter,” he added.