KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 — Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador assured Malaysians today that the authorities will not curtail the freedom of expression and would allow the public to assemble as long as this was in accordance with existing laws.

His assertion comes amid concern that a sedition investigation against a lawyer who organised a pro-democracy protest last week was an impending crackdown on dissent.

“You are free to express, to have freedom of speech,” he told reporters at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters here.

“The police are not interested in curbing freedom of expression... but we must also think about the safety of the general public at large, people who are not involved or not interested,” he added.

“What about them?”

The police have been heavily criticised for opening a sedition investigation against lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, who organised a peaceful protest on Saturday against the power grab that triggered the fall of the Pakatan Harapan rule. 

Fadia had tried to mobilise support for the gathering on Twitter, in which she called on the public to protest against the “death of democracy” and the politicians who schemed to form an illegitimate government through the “backdoor”.

But Abdul Hamid has denied the charges, saying the probe is merely to ascertain if there were seditious elements in the demonstration.

“I didn’t say she was seditious,” the IGP said when asked why was the Sedition Act was used against the lawyer.

“We only called her in to ask some questions to find out what’s going on, that’s all. Now we can wrap up the investigation and send it over to the Attorney General’s office and let them decide on the next course of action.”

Civil society groups have raised concerns that the sedition investigation against Fadia could signal a return of the autocratic rule under the corruption-tainted Barisan Nasional, which is now part of the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Barely hours after Muhyiddin was controversially sworn in as prime minister the authorities opened several investigation papers against activists, among them lawyer Datuk S. Ambiga Sreenevasan and the daughter of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Marina, a vocal champion of human rights.

But Abdul Hamid gave his assurance today that the authorities will continue to respect democratic principles, but stressed that it must also preserve national security.

He said laws like the Peaceful Assembly Act are there for the purpose of safeguarding peace “and harmony”, so that free expression would not be abused to foster animosity and incite violence.

“We don’t want a police state too,” he said.

“People can voice their opinions but please do so within the boundaries of the laws.”