PSM’s Arutchelvan Subramaniam, Sivaranjan Arumugam and Nik Aziz Afiq and activists Wong Yan Ke and Nalini Elumalai will be questioned in connection with a Labour Day gathering.

The gathering was held on May 1 to raise concerns over workers’ rights and job security.

Another five individuals, including Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil, PSM’s Sivaranjani Manickam and Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy, will be called in connection with the spontaneous gathering that took place on April 24 following the arrest of political artist Fahmi Reza.

Disclosing this today, rights group Article 19 urged the police to stop harassing peaceful protesters, human rights defenders and activists.

It accused the government of repeatedly using the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) to discourage public participation and intimidate protesters.

“The PAA impedes the exercise of fundamental freedoms that are guaranteed by Malaysia’s Constitution and protected by international human rights law,” it said in a statement.

Article 19 said the law had imposed “overly burdensome requirements” on assembly organisers, who are required to notify authorities five days before a gathering.

“Crucially, the law does not provide for any exceptions to the notification requirements, effectively prohibiting protesters from rapidly organising assemblies in response to unexpected events such as the detention of Fahmi,” it said.

It said the government should reform PAA to comply with international human rights laws and take steps to ensure that all Malaysians enjoy the rights to freedom of expression and assembly.