Waging war against the king. In cahoots with foreign conspirators. Possible communists. Planning to overthrow the government. Illegal T-shirts. Bersih 2.0 seems to embody many evils to the authorities, who have arrested more than 100 in attempts to stop Bersih’s 9 July 2011 march. But have the authorities gone overboard in demonising the rally? What about Malaysians’ constitutional right to freedom of expression and right to peaceable assembly?

BUKIT MERTAJAM, 29 May 2009: Former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim today asked if former communist guerilla Chin Peng would be treated with as much hostility by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government if he were Malay. “Let us not divide the rakyat by creating new enemies … He is Malayan. Chin [...]