PETALING JAYA: The proposed peaceful march by lawyers this Friday (June 17) to Parliament to uphold judicial independence has hit a roadblock after being denied permission to walk by the police.

       Malaysian Bar chairman Karen Cheah Yee Lynn said that while the police had agreed to help facilitate the gathering at Padang Merbok near Parliament, lawyers will not be allowed to proceed with the Walk For Judicial Independence.

       The lawyers had intended to walk from Padang Merbok car park to Parliament, a short distance of less than a kilometre for the gathering.

       "The Bar Council acknowledges the assistance of the police in helping to facilitate the gathering at Padang Merbok, but we do not agree that we are unable to proceed with the walk to Parliament and we shall be writing to and continue engaging the police in this regard,” she said in a statement Thursday (June 16).

       On May 27, the Malaysian Bar voted to hold a peaceful protest to uphold judicial independence and to also condemn a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation against Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.

       The decision to hold the peaceful protest comes after an overwhelming majority of the lawyers agreed to the gathering and walk during the Bar's recent Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).

       The MACC investigations followed claims by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin that there were funds transferred to Mohd Nazlan's account during his time as the group general counsel and company secretary of Maybank.

       Mohd Nazlan was the judge who convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over the misappropriation of RM42mil of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

       Mohd Nazlan lodged a police report against Raja Petra on April 21, denying the accusations which he said were malicious, baseless and aimed at tarnishing his credibility as a judge.

       Meanwhile, Cheah said that the Malaysian Bar had written a letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to inform him of the peaceful protest and plans to handover a memorandum, to which he responded.

       "We have since been informed that Datuk Wira Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law), will be accepting the memorandum on his behalf," she added.

       She called on all members and pupils in chambers to participate in the gathering and walk, reminding them to adhere to Covid-19 safety precautions.