[1] The respondents were charged in the Sessions Court with the offence of participating in a "street protest". It is an offence under s 4(2)(c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (the PAA 2012) and it is punishable under s 4(3) of the same Act. The prosecution called a total of seven witnesses. At the conclusion of the case for the prosecution, the learned Sessions Court Judge acquitted the respondents without calling for their defence. The prosecution has appealed this decision before this Court.

[2] For ease of reference, before proceeding further, I shall set out the charge below:

"Bahawa kamu bersama beberapa orang yang masih bebas, pada 29 Ogos 2015 di antara lebih kurang jam 2.00 petang hingga 3.00 petang bermula dari hadapan Hotel Hilton Kuching, Jalan Borneo melalui Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Tabuan, Jalam Ban Hock sehingga ke padang Song Kheng Hai, di dalam Bandaraya Kuching, di dalam Negeri Sarawak, telah menyertai suatu protes jalanan bagi maksud memajukan suatu tujuan berkaitan Perhimpunan Bersih 4 anjuran gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (BERSIH) dan oleh yang demikian, kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan di bawah s 4(2) (c) Akta Perhimpunan Aman 2012 yang