Friday, May 8, 2009

A Black Day For Malaysia



Lawyers Gather To Protest Arrest Of Colleagues

Malaysia Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Hundreds of lawyers have formed a sea of black and white at the Jalan Duta courts to protest the detention of five of their colleagues.

The five lawyers were arrested last night at the Brickfields police station, where they had gone to represent their clients who were detained for allegedly participating in an illegal candlelight vigil for activist Wong Chin Huat.

Wong was arrested for sedition earlier this week after he called on Malaysians to wear black yesterday to protest the power grab in Perak.

His arrest was among a clutch made by the authorities in a sign of growing unease over the level of dissent sparked by Barisan Nasional’s (BN) controversial takeover of the Perak state government from Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Yesterday’s Perak state assembly sitting descended into chaos with scuffles and wrestling matches between lawmakers from both sides and resulted in the police entering a legislative assembly for the first time in the country’s history of parliamentary democracy.

The Bar Council has already described yesterday’s events as a black day for democracy and heavily criticised the police for interference.

This morning its president Ragunath Kesavan again condemned the police over the arrests of his colleagues.

“We are shocked and disgusted by this blatant transgression of the rule of law. By their action, the police personnel in question have demonstrated utter disrespect and blatant disregard for the criminal justice system that they are duty-bound to uphold and protect.

“They have violated the specific provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code guaranteeing access to lawyers. Although there is an exception to this provision, it cannot by any stretch of the imagination be turned into a right to arrest lawyers who are waiting to render legal representation to their clients,” he said in a statement issued this morning.”

He said the police action made an absolute mockery of the constitutional right to legal representation and was a travesty of justice.

“We call on the Inspector-General of Police to immediately explain this gross abuse of police power.

“This unprecedented conduct by the police has far-reaching consequences. It means arrested persons can be denied access to their lawyers without challenge. And when their lawyers are denied access and are forced to wait outside the police station, the lawyers themselves are at risk of arrest. “

The five lawyers arrested yesterday were from the Kuala Lumpur Legal Aid Centre.

They are Fadiah Nadwa Binti Fikri, Murnie Hidayah Binti Anuar, Puspawati Binti Rosman, Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal and Syuhaini Binti Safwan.

4 comments:

  1. http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/legal/general_news/breaking_news_legal_aid_lawyers_released.html

    Breaking news: Legal Aid Lawyers Released
    Friday, 08 May 2009 03:29PM


    The 5 Legal Aid lawyers held last night were released this afternoon around 3:00pm from the Brickfields Police Station.
    Earlier this morning, more than 200 lawyers gathered at the Jalan Duta Court as a mark of solidarity to mark their protest
    of their fellow colleagues' arrest.
    The Bar salutes our colleagues from the Kuala Lumpur Legal Aid Centre – Fadiah Nadwa Binti Fikri, Murnie Hidayah Binti
    Anuar, Puspawati Binti Rosman, Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal and Syuhaini Binti Safwan – who, without regard for their own
    safety and well-being, voluntarily went to the aid of those arrested, only to be arrested themselves. They have exhibited
    great courage and by their actions have demonstrated the highest standards of the Malaysian Bar.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The testimony of one of the lawyers who was wrongfully arrested:
    http://ceriterasaya.blogspot.com/2009/05/filem-hitam.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Five lawyers, 15 others won't face charges http://thenutgraph.com/five-lawyers-will-not-be-charged
    By Gan Pei Ling
    ganpeiling@thenutgraph.com

    Updated at 2.40pm

    KUALA LUMPUR, 22 May 2009: The 20 people, including five lawyers, who were released on police bail recently, are not expected to face charges after the police announced the bail ended today.

    Brickfields district police chief OCPD Wan Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said today the police were not extending the bail.

    ReplyDelete
  4. JAWAPAN LISAN DEWAN RAKYAT AHLI PARLIMEN KELANA JAYA, GWO-BURNE LOH PADA 9 JUN 2010

    SOALAN:

    TUAN GWO-BURNE LOH [KELANA JAYA] minta MENTERI DALAM NEGERI menyatakan tindakan yang diambil terhadap OCPD ACP Wan Abdul Bahari dan DSP Jude Pereira berdasarkan hasil siasatan SUHAKAM pada 23 April 2010.



    JAWAPAN:

    Saya mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Ahli Yang Berhormat Kelana Jaya yang telah mengemukakan soalan.

    Untuk makluman Ahli-ahli Yang Berhormat dan dewan yang mulia ini, Laporan SUHAKAM mengenai dua orang pegawai polis seperti yang dimaklumkan oleh Ahli Yang Berhormat itu telah dikemukakan kepada Jabatan Peguam Negara bagi mendapatkan nasihat. Setakat ini, tiada sebarang tindakan diambil ke atas kedua-dua pegawai polis berkenaan.

    ReplyDelete