(Oct 22): Electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 has obtained leave from the High Court to challenge the home minister's ban on yellow Bersih 4 T-shirts and other printed materials which was gazetted two days before the 34-hour rally in late August.

Judicial Commissioner Azimah Omar, in allowing leave, said the application was not frivolous.

Lawyer New Sin Yew, who appeared for the Bersih 2.0 steering committee, today submitted that the Home Minister's decision to gazette the order on grounds of public order and national security was irrational.

He said the gathering went on peacefully and the organisers cooperated with the authorities.

"Even the deputy minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed acknowledged that there was no violence during the gathering," he said.

New said he would file a certificate of urgency to expedite the hearing of the judicial review.

"We will file the court papers soon and serve it on the Attorney-General's Chambers so that the substantive hearing could proceed expeditiously," he told The Malaysian Insider.

A government gazette signed by the home minister on August 27, and which came into effect the following day, states that the order was made under the Printing, Presses and Publications Act 1984.

The Printing Presses and Publications (Control of Undesirable Publications) (No. 22) Order 2015 lists as "absolutely prohibited throughout Malaysia" the following items: "Any yellow coloured clothing and which contains the words 'Bersih 4'" and "Any other printed material and pamphlet which leads to Bersih 4 rally."

The order states that the "printing, importation, production, reproduction, publishing, sale, issue, circulation, distribution, or possession" of these items are "likely prejudicial to public order," as well as to security and national interest.

Bersih, in its application, said the ban has “branded as criminals” thousands of Malaysians who have the right to own Bersih 4 T-shirts and pamphlets.

“The home minister’s order was unreasonable, illegal and made in bad faith,” it said. – The Malaysian Insider