Malaysia pressured to change law against rallies

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysia’s government is facing mounting pressure to scrap plans for a law that would ban street protests.

The proposed law to regulate public demonstrations has prompted lawyers, opposition leaders and rights groups to accuse Prime Minister Najib Razak’s National Front coalition of cracking down on freedom of assembly.

Details of the Peaceful Assembly Bill announced last week included a requirement for rally organizers to inform police about their plans 30 days in advance.

Malaysia’s de facto law minister, Nazri Aziz, said Saturday that the Cabinet has agreed to make several changes to the proposed law, such as reducing the advance notification period to 10 days.

But the country’s main lawyers group said it will proceed with a march to Parliament on Tuesday to protest the proposed law.