state representatives from being notified of an emergency sitting of the state assembly on 3 March. He mentioned that this obstruction was in "contempt of the house" and liable for punishment under house rules. The sitting Because the assemblypersons were barred from entering the building, Sivakumar declared the parking lot of the State Secretariat building as the meeting place. The assembly met under a tree in the parking lot, which would later be known as the Democracy tree. All the three motions were debated and passed unanimously, 27–0. 1BLACKMalaysia protest and arrests The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) urged Malaysians to wear black on 7 May, to protest the "ongoing Perak coup" by the Barisan Nasional government. "It will be a peaceful but powerful message of civil disobedience: that we, the people, are the politicians' bosses and no politician defiant of public opinion can escape punishment at the next poll," said Bersih representative Wong Chin Huat at the launch of the 1BLACKMalaysia campaign on 5 May. That evening, Wong was arrested for sedition for writing several articles, including on the 1BLACKMalaysia campaign. Security was tight around the state secretariat building where the state assembly is housed. The police cordoned off the roads in the areas from the night before the sitting on 7 May. The police warned political party supporters not to create tension by dressing in black and gathering illegally in protest of the Perak state assembly sitting. That didn't stop the supporters from showing up, dressed in black. Even before the sitting began, the police had arrested at dozens of people. High Court rules takeover illegal On 11 May 2009, the High Court of Kuala Lumpur ruled that, since there had been no vote of no confidence in the state assembly, the Barisan Nasional takeover was "illegal" and the Pakatan Rakyat's Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin still held office. The opposition is expected to call for fresh elections, while the ruling party has vowed to appeal. The Regent of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah has agreed to see Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin on his request for dissolution of the Perak state legislature and the call for a fresh election. The night of 11 May, the Pakatan Rakyat Perak executive council met and dismissed the state secretary and state legal adviser. Nizar announced his executive council would report for work the next day, and asserted that the 7 May sitting