Anis Syafiqah Md Yusof, Muhammad Luqman Nul Haqim Zul Razali, Suhail Wan Azahar and Muhammad Luqman Hakim Mohd Fazli filed the action, seeking a declaration that UM’s (Discipline of Students) Rules 1999 was a breach of their freedom of speech and expression.
They further said a provision in the University and University Colleges Act (UUCA) 1971 and UM rules could not regulate their activities outside the university.
As such, they said the Nov 11 letter issued by UM to appear before a tribunal was unlawful.
Meanwhile, their lawyer Marcus Tan Kian Han said should the declaration be allowed, the consequential order would be that their conviction by the tribunal would have to be set aside.
“We have only come to court to seek a declaration that the UM’s rule is in violation of their fundamental rights. If that is the case, all four cannot be found guilty,” he said.
The originating summons filed on their behalf by Messrs Foo Woei & Co also named the higher education minister and the government as defendants.
Anis, Mohd Luqman Hakim and Mohamad Luqman were suspended for a semester and fined RM400 while Suhail was only fined RM400.
All four students, found guilty by UM of disciplinary offences linked to the Aug 27 rally in Kuala Lumpur, were also issued warnings.
They have since filed an appeal against the university’s decision.
However, Anis, who is a linguistics student, and the three Islamic Studies students were allowed to sit for their exams.
With the suspension in place, Anis would also have to defer her graduation as the next semester was supposed to be her final semester.
The Tangkap MO1 rally was organised by a coalition of students and youth groups calling for the arrest of the individual described only as MO1 in the United States’ Department of Justice’s civil suit linked to the state-owned investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
Anis and student organisers led a large group, comprising mainly youths, in a march to Dataran Merdeka in August.
The DOJ had said in its suit that US$731 million had been transferred into the accounts of a senior government official, which it did not name but described as “Malaysian Official 1”.
Anis later told a press conference the four had to seek legal redress as their plea to the university authorities to drop the charges had failed.
“The tribunal also did not give us a fair hearing and our action to challenge the constitutionality of the rules is significant to show the spirit of the supreme law of the land must be respected,” she said.
She said the legal action taken was a signal to all undergraduates that they should not be intimidated by any threats made by the authorities.
“Students must realise that the University and University Colleges Act gives power to university authorities to punish those who are critical of the government,” she said.
A similar court action was also brought by Asheeq Ali, who was also found guilty by a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) tribunal for taking part in the same gathering.