Suaram executive director Azura Nasron said invoking Section 353 for using criminal force to deter a public servant from carrying out their duties was “grossly disproportionate” as police had blocked the workers from approaching Parliament.

Calling it a “troubling escalation”, she said it was a serious departure from previous protest-related probes, which were usually conducted under Section 186 for obstruction.

“It is shifting blame onto citizens exercising their constitutional right to peaceful assembly, while failing to hold police accountable for their failure to facilitate the protest effectively.

“Public assemblies outside Parliament predate the Peaceful Assembly Act and are part of Malaysia’s democratic tradition.

“But since 2020, police have increasingly pushed demonstrators away from Parliament gates to the base of the hill,” she said in a statement.

A scuffle occurred when police stopped a group of more than 100 estate workers, led by Arutchelvan, from marching to the Parliament gates.

The workers had walked from Taman Tugu to submit a memorandum on housing and a draft bill making it compulsory for estates to provide homes for local plantation workers.

Although blocked from gathering at the gates, the group managed to hand over the documents to deputy law and institutional reform minister M Kulasegaran and opposition chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan.

However, Kuala Lumpur police chief Fadli Marsus said yesterday that the commotion left a police officer injured, and that an investigation had been launched.

Arutchelvan was also summoned to the Dang Wangi police station this afternoon.

Azura said such actions undermine the purpose of peaceful assembly, which is to deliver demands directly to elected representatives.

She urged police to drop the probe and called on the home ministry to review protest protocols, especially around high-security areas like the Parliament.