Lawyers split over resolution

Malay Mail
by Meena Lakshana

Some defend consensus on Bersih 3.0, others says Bar Council partial

PETALING JAYA: Lawyers are divided over the objectivity of the Malaysian Bar Council's resolution passed during the council's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last Friday on the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28.

While some have defended the majority consensus reached in passing the 12-point resolution, others have decried it as being partial.

Former Bar Council Human Rights Committee chairman president Edmund Bon said the pertinent issue at the EGM was the council's objection to police brutality, which did not augur well with the relevant authorities.

"Section 42 of the Legal Profession Act 1976 makes it a duty for the Bar to uphold the cause of justice without regard to its own interests or that of its members, uninfluenced by fear or favour," he said.

"We are independent in our views when it comes to police brutality and we will say it."

He said if the government was serious about reforming the police force, it would have done so by setting up an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), which was rendered from the Royal Commission on the Management and Operations of the Royal Malaysian Police Force in 2004.

The Bar Council resolution called for an IPCMC and Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate incidents of physical assault perpetrated by the police on rally participants, media members and lawyers.

Bon said there had been attempts to split the Bar in 2002 when the government proposed the setting up of a Academy of Law.

"We have been attacked by both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat before, so this is not new to us," he said.

He also said members who opposed the Bar's decision could take the matter to court.

Former Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan said the resolution passed at the meeting reflected the position of the Malaysian Bar and not all lawyers.

"People can agree or disagree with the Bar's stand," he said.

"It shows that we have a right to have dissenting views, which is the central tenet of a mature democracy."

He said the minority group of lawyers who opposed to the council's decision to condemn the excessive use of police force on Bersih 3.0 participants should call for an EGM and vote of no confidence in the Bar's leadership.

Ragunath said the proposal to set up an alternative legal organisation was "not going to work."

"Having another organisation for lawyers is merely duplication," he said.

Another lawyer, Datuk Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, criticised the resolution for not addressing the breach of the court order stipulating a 50m barrier from Dataran Merdeka during the rally.

He also said the Bar Council should have equally condemned the political parties and political leaders, in reference to Parti Keadilan Rakyat de-facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and deputy president Azmin Ali, who had "failed to ensure peace at the rally".

"It was unfortunate that the Bar Council did not condemn violence of any sort and by anyone that disturbs the freedom of assembly," he said.

"Probably, the council should have waited for police investigations and the inquiry panel to complete investigations before hastily calling for an EGM, though I am against any form of harassment against lawyers who are carrying out their duties."