About 100 PH supporters turn up in Bangsar for anti-Azam protest

About 100 Pakatan Harapan supporters turned up at the Bangsar LRT station today to demand action against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki over online accusations related to his ownership of shares.

The protest was moved to Bangsar after police barred gatherings in the city centre.

Organisers had earlier expected thousands to participate in what they called the “Tangkap Azam” rally.

Witnesses said there were more policemen and media personnel than protesters, many of whom carried caricatures of Azam and sat on the road.

At the peak of the gathering at noon, a live report by Malaysiakini estimated about 200 protesters, a group of whom turned back to Jalan Bangsar after cancelling a planned march to the city centre.

The gathering was organised by DAP, PKR and Amanah as part of a campaign to demand Azam’s removal, despite his clearance by the anti-graft body’s Anti-Corruption Advisory Board as well as the Securities Commission (SC), which said he had not committed any offence under the Securities Central Depository Act.

The SC investigated Azam over claims of conflict of interest in the purchase of company shares following a series of blog articles by Lalitha Kunaratnam, an activist linked to local NGO C4 Center.

Azam has filed a RM10 million defamation suit against Lalitha, who has since shut down her social media accounts.