I strongly condemn the decision of Universiti Malaysia Sabah Labuan campus disciplinary committee to suspend three final year students for a semester for demonstrating on campus in February.
The disciplinary committee of UMS should be reminded that Court of Appeal in April has ruled that it is unconstitutional to criminalise spontaneous public assemblies.
Judge Datuk Dr Hamid Sultan Abu Backer in his judgment has said that the right to assemble was prescribed in the Federal Constitution and could not be imposed with a criminal prosecution if the assembly was peaceful.
University and college students are also members of the public and are fully entitled to the freedoms that are afforded by the Federal Constitution. It is unconstitutional for UMS to penalise the students for organising or taking part in a peaceful assembly.
UMS might find the it hard to swallow, as it was a protest in front of the Umskal administration building against the university’s decision to take back management of a shop on campus, which the student group has been operating for 6 years. However, that does not mean that the university can take any actions against the students as it wishes. The administration of UMS needs to learn to respect the right to assembly and right of expression enjoy by all Malaysians, including the students in their campus.
As the suspension will render the three students unable to sit for their final examinations next week, I urge the university to revoke their decision with immediate effect to ensure that the future of these students won’t be jeopardized.