About 30 PR members taking part in the peaceful gathering in front of the Kota Kinabalu Court.
KOTA KINABALU: About 30 members from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) staged a peaceful ‘Free Anwar Ibrahim 901’ rally in front of the court here yesterday.
The assembly lasted about five minutes without any incident. It was held in conjunction with the High Court delivering its decision on opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy case.
A survey by The Borneo Post yesterday found the opposition party had gathered as early as 9am in front of the Kota Kinabalu Court shouting: ‘Reform’ and ‘Release Anwar’ while some were seen raising banners that said: ‘Rakyat tahu Anwar dizalimi, kuasa rakyat bersama Anwar’ (The People know Anwar is oppressed, the people are with Anwar) and ‘Tolak fitnah…lawan konspirasi, bebaskan Anwar’ (Oppose defamation…reject conspiracy, free Anwar).
Police were at the court to control the situation. However, no arrest was made following the peaceful gathering.
The group then dispersed about five minutes later without any incident.
Meanwhile, the survey also found a couple of roadblocks were made by the police to control any groups or individuals who intended to enter the state capital to join in the gathering.
However, city police chief Assistant Commissioner Ahmad Sofi Zakaria insisted that the roadblocks were normal duties by police in crime prevention.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday found opposition leader Anwar not guilty of sodomising his aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
The verdict, which came after a two-year trial, shocked many people as many quarters had predicted that Anwar would be found guilty.