Ragunath Kesavan Elected New Bar Council President

KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 (Bernama) -- Ragunath Kesavan has been elected as the new president of the Malaysian Bar Council for the 2009/2010 term.

He takes over from Datuk Ambiga Sreenavesan whose two-year term ends this year. He was the vice-president of the Bar Council.


The new office-bearers of the Bar Council were also elected. Lim Chee Wee is now vice-president (taking over from Ragunath), George Varughese the secretary (taking over from Lim) and Tony Woon Yeow Thong, treasurer (taking over Varughese).

"The goal of the Bar is two-fold, one is to ensure development and maintaining of standards of the profession, and the other, to pursue vigorously human rights matters," said Ragunath at a press conference after the Bar Council's 63rd annual general meeting, here, Saturday.

The meeting was attended by 625 members who voted in the new office-bearers.

Among the motions proposed by the Bar Council was on detention without trial and deaths in police custody.

"The detention of persons held without trial under laws such as the Internal Security Act (1960), Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 and Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985 is an unjustified infringement of the universal principles of human rights," said Ragunath.

He said the laws were a violation of the rule of law and principles of a democratic government.


He also urged the government to investigate all deaths in police custody and called on the setting up of a royal commission to investigate such deaths.