MIC 'sec-gen' on hunger strike inspired by Gandhi

U.S. officials say 6,000 ISIS fighters killed in battles

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent

Washington (CNN)The coalition fighting ISIS has killed more than 6,000 fighters, including half of the top command of the terror group, U.S. diplomatic officials said Thursday.

The number of fighters killed has not been publicly discussed before but was disclosed by the U.S. ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones, who told Al Arabiya television earlier in the day that an estimated 6,000 fighters have been killed. Jones said the military effort was having a "devastating" impact on ISIS.

The estimate was calculated by U.S. Central Command and finds ISIS fighters have been killed in Iraq and Syria by coalition airstrikes, according to a U.S. military official. CENTCOM has kept a running estimate of fighters killed, but has not made it public.

U.S. intelligence estimates that ISIS has a total force of somewhere between 9,000 to 18,000 fighters. However, it is also believed the group can draw on thousands of other fighters whose loyalty shifts and could muster a force upwards of 31,000 total.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, would not confirm the 6,000 deaths estimate, instead saying "thousands" have been killed.

On whether the body count is a sign of progress, Hagel said, "It's a measure but I don't think it's the measure."

"I was in a war where we did body counts and we lost that one," Hagel said, referring to his service in Vietnam.

Until now, the Pentagon has stayed away discussing the matter, other than to estimate that thousands of fighters may have been killed. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Rear Admiral John Kirby was adamant that the US is not keeping a "body count," and said it would be wrong to state that there is such a count. He called it a 'tally" and said the notion of a body count suggests Vietnam War era statistics. In that war the Pentagon offered body counts as a measure of its success against the Viet Cong. Kirby said the tally was not aimed at showing any metric of success against ISIS.

All of this comes after Iraq has criticized the U.S. for not doing enough to help their fight against ISIS. The U.S. has long said airstrikes are aimed at degrading ISIS as a threat, but would not by themselves get rid of the organization.

Secretary of State Kerry, speaking to reporters in London, echoed the U.S. ambassador in saying the strikes have "halted" ISIS momentum, and reclaimed "more than 700 square kilometers" from ISIS in Iraq.

In Iraq, airstrikes around Mosul have been stepped up significantly in support of Peshmerga fighters on the advance in the region. The effort now is to cut a key ISIS supply line into Mosul, a US military official said.

The official stressed the US cannot confirm the exact number but has based its calculation based on pilot reports, and other intelligence gathered about a target before and after a strike.

CNN's Jim Sciutto contributed to this report

Australian jihadists Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar accused of enslaving Yazidi women in Islamic State stronghold

By Middle East correspondent Matt Brown and Suzanne Dredge

Notorious Australian jihadists Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar have been accused of enslaving women from the Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq.

The ABC interviewed four of the women who identified Sharrouf and Elomar as their captors.

Both men have been posting messages on social media chronicling extremist behaviour while they fight for the Islamic State (IS) militia.

However, this is the first witness testimony placing them in the Islamic State's de facto capital Raqqa.

Being in Raqqa is a crime under Australian law.

Video Link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-22/australian-islamic-state-fighters-accused-of/6036660

The women said the Australians held them captive after they were kidnapped in Iraq and taken deep into Syrian territory last year.

The women have now taken refuge in northern Iraq, living in refugee tents, cabins and concrete homes amidst a freezing winter.

To reach the women, the ABC travelled west from the Kurdish city of Erbil to within 35 kilometres of the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, then north to the rugged mountains where Iraq, Syria and Turkey meet.

Because the women are still terrified of the Australians they have asked to have their names changed for publication.


Print Email Facebook Twitter More
Australian jihadists Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar accused of enslaving Yazidi women in Islamic State stronghold
Exclusive by Middle East correspondent Matt Brown and Suzanne Dredge

Updated about an hour agoThu 22 Jan 2015, 10:57pm

Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.
Video: Australian jihadists accused of enslaving Yazidi women (7.30)
Photo: Nazdar told the ABC she was held captive by Mohamed Elomar (ABC News)
Related Story: Australian Muslim groups condemn use of slaves
Related Story: Australians fighting with Islamic State implicated in sexual slavery
Map: Syrian Arab Republic

Notorious Australian jihadists Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar have been accused of enslaving women from the Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq.

The ABC interviewed four of the women who identified Sharrouf and Elomar as their captors.

Both men have been posting messages on social media chronicling extremist behaviour while they fight for the Islamic State (IS) militia.

Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.
Audio: Women describe enslavement by Australian jihadists in Iraq (PM)

However, this is the first witness testimony placing them in the Islamic State's de facto capital Raqqa.

Being in Raqqa is a crime under Australian law.

The women said the Australians held them captive after they were kidnapped in Iraq and taken deep into Syrian territory last year.

The women have now taken refuge in northern Iraq, living in refugee tents, cabins and concrete homes amidst a freezing winter.

To reach the women, the ABC travelled west from the Kurdish city of Erbil to within 35 kilometres of the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, then north to the rugged mountains where Iraq, Syria and Turkey meet.

Because the women are still terrified of the Australians they have asked to have their names changed for publication.
LtoR Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar Photo: LtoR Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar, date of photos unknown. (ABC News/Facebook)

As the rain beat down on her thin refugee tent, Ghazala peered intently at a series of mugshots of Australian Islamic State fighters.

She was looking for the man she knew as Abu Zarqawi, a man who had kept her and six other Yazidi women captive in Syria for two months.

The moment she saw Sharrouf her finger shot out to point at his face.

"We were so afraid they would force us to marry them," she said.

"And when they were going to battle they'd take knives and other tools to cut off the heads of those they fight."

Three other Yazidi women identified Sharrouf from his mug shot.

During their time in captivity they had learned his age, the fact that he had served time in prison, and that he suffered a mental illness.
Children absorbing the horror that surrounds them

Sharrouf is notorious for his online posts, including images of his son holding a severed head and a submachine gun.

As well as cooking and cleaning for his family, the Yazidi women looked after his five children.

And they warned the barbarity the children had witnessed was being absorbed.

"His children were treating us badly," Ghazala said.

"They had knives and cell phones saying that they will take videos while cutting off our heads because we follow a different religion."

The ABC obtained additional images that also gave a disturbing glimpse into the lives of Sharrouf's family.

In one photo Sharrouf was pictured at a shooting range along with a young woman who is possibly his eldest daughter.

Sharrouf's three boys can be seen laughing together in military fatigues.

In one picture, the eldest boy sits on the floor with his hand on an assault rifle, while another rifle is propped next to him on the wall.

In another, the youngest holds a submachine gun.

Sharrouf caused outrage when he posted a similar image online last year. But the ABC has obtained several more, showing the child posing and aiming the gun at the camera.

Sharrouf told women: 'We have killed your gods'

When Islamic State fighters swept across northern Iraq last year they targeted the Yazidis because they believe the Yazidis are infidels who must convert or die.

The four women interviewed by the ABC were captured along with thousands of others.

Many of their men were killed or taken hostage. Then the women were taken to Raqqa and traded as slaves.

One of the women, Layla, said Sharrouf demanded they convert to Islam.

"He tried to ban us from crying and showing our sadness," she said.

"He threatened to sell us if we did. He said, 'Why are you sad? Forget about your home and family. This is your home and we are your family now. Forget about your gods, for good, because we have killed them all'."

Two of the women identified Elomar as their captor. While he had used the pseudonym Abu Hafs, the women learned his real first and second name and the fact that his wife had been arrested before she could leave Australia to join him.

They said he lived on the first floor of the two-storey building occupied by Sharrouf and his family.

And they accused Elomar of taking one of their friends away and either raping her or threatening to rape her.

"One of my friends was with us all the day but he was taking her by force at night," Layla said.

Another woman, Nazdar, said of her friend: "She told me, 'he said that I must marry him or else he is going to sell me'. And every day he was bringing people to his home offering to sell them my friend."

The allegation could not be tested. The issue is clouded in secrecy, fear and shame.

The forced marriage and rape of Yazidi women has been widely reported. But, while the four women said they believed it happened to two friends, none said it had happened to them.

All four gave consistent, first-hand accounts of servitude and demands they renounce their culture and religion. And the threat of being forced to marry or sold to other jihadists was made often.

As well as being brutal jihadists, Sharrouf and Elomar now stand accused of being involved in an organised attempt to wipe out a people.

Palanivel’s man launches hunger strike ‘till last breath’ to protest RoS decision

Datuk G. Kumar Aaman has begun a hunger strike to protest the Registrar of Societies' (RoS) decision on his appointment as MIC secretary-general, reminiscent of the party's politics decades ago when a coffin was brought in and chairs thrown during meetings.

Kumar Aaman (pic, right) is camped outside the RoS office in Putrajaya where he said today he would strike "until his last breath" after the registrar refused to recognise his appointment by MIC president Datuk G. Palanivel as party secretary-general earlier this month.

“I am doing this for the Indian community. I will die for the community,” Kumar Aaman told reporters in the latest drama in MIC's infighting since its party elections in 2013 came under RoS scrutiny.

Kumar Aaman’s action today was reminiscent of a similar move by then vice-president Tan Sri M.G. Pandithan who in 1988 embarked on a "death fast" at the MIC headquarters' car park and, in a dramatic touch, brought along a coffin.

He embarked on the fast to prove his innocence and to get charges of inciting violence and unrest within the party dropped.

He stopped his fast after 28 hours, following an assurance by then deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam that he would be given a fair hearing.

However, the party’s disciplinary committee eventually sacked Pandithan from MIC in 1989.

MIC gatherings in the past have also earned a reputation for violent scuffles which sometimes culminated in chair-throwing and fist fights.

Though such scenes have yet to be played out in the current party crisis, there have been some tense exchanges between members over the last month.

Rival factions in the party are now battling to maintain their grip on the ethnic Indian party, which is a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Kumar Aaman said he would continue his fast until the home minister removed the RoS director-general Mohammad Razin Abdullah and several officers who were in charge of investigating the party elections.

The RoS has ordered the party to conduct fresh polls.

He announced his fast today, flanked by the party’s working committee member K.P. Samy, information chief L. Sivasubramaniam and his lawyer T. Rajasekaran.

The three men sat outside at a corner of the building so as not to be in the way of those going in and out of the RoS office.

He said he would continue with the hunger strike until Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi replied to a memorandum he had submitted earlier demanding that Mohammad Razin and the officers investigating the party be replaced.

This is not the first time Kumar Aaman’s actions have caused a stir.

Last week he he traded barbs with former MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu over a decision barring unauthorised personnel from entering the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur without consent.

Samy said Kumar Aaman had shouted and verbally abused him.

“As a trustee of MIC and former president, I rang him up to ask him who gave him the authority to do this. For that, he shouted at me and hurled vulgar and abusive words at me, saying it was his right,” Samy Vellu said in his police report.

Kumar Aaman retaliated by lodging his own police report at the Dang Wangi police station, saying the former MIC chief had called him a “rascal” and threatened to "finish him off".

Kumar Aaman said he had told Samy Vellu that the security measures were to stop outsiders from entering the party headquarters which also houses the Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED) and Selangor MIC headquarters.

Fighting within MIC intensified after president G. Palanivel, in a move to consolidate his grip, replaced secretary-general Prakash Rao with loyalist Kumar Aaman, and dropped former loyalists Tan Sri K.S. Nijhar, Datuk R. Ramanan, as well as Datuk Sri S. Vell Paari, who is Samy Vellu's son.

It also brought about Kumar Aaman’s directive to ban unauthorised party members from entering the party headquarters, a move seen as directed at Palanivel’s critics who had held a series of media conferences at the party headquarters questioning his leadership.

MIC is in the throes of crisis after the RoS found irregularities in the party polls and ordered it to conduct fresh elections.

The RoS directive also sparked fears that failure to conduct fresh polls would result in the party's deregistration. – January 22, 2015.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/palanivels-man-launches-hunger-strike-till-last-breath-to-protest-ros-decis#sthash.PH36xJtS.dpuf

Gov't gets three months' stay on Navin MyKad issue

The High Court has granted a conditional stay of three months, from today, for the National Registration Department and Home Ministry to get a decision on their application to appeal the court order granting teenager M Navin a MyKad.

The stay was granted by Justice Hue Siew Kheng in Kuala Lumpur today, on an application filed by the National Registration Department (NRD) and the Home Ministry.

"It is up to the Attorney-General's Chambers to push for an earlier date at the Court of Appeal," Justice Hue said in chambers.

Navin's lawyer Annou Xavier (left) told reporters outside court that should the AG's Chambers fail to get an early hearing date within the three months, the NRD would have to issue the MyKad to Navin.

In ordering the MyKad to be issued to Navin on Nov 25, Justice Hue said the decision of the NRD and ministry not to do so is unjustified.

Navin, 16, is of mixed Malaysian and Filipino parentage.

The NRD and the Home Ministry filed their notice of appeal against Justice Hue's decision last month.

Birth certificate revoked

It was reported that Navin was issued a Malaysian birth certificate and also an international passport, but the authorities revoked the birth certificate on July 21, 2010, based on Article 15A of the Federal Constitution.

They cited special circumstances on grounds that his father did not register his marriage.

As a result of this, Navin filed the originating summons application in December 2013, in which he sought a declaration that he is a Malaysian citizen and for the NRD to issue him a MyKad.

In her order to the NRD to issue the MyKad, Justice Hue said the NRD's first letter dated July 25, 2011, was unjust and too harsh in deciding not to issue citizenship on grounds of Article 15A of the Federal Constitution, following the father's failure to register his marriage.

“This is truly an error in law, as Article 18 of the Federal Constitution makes no reference to parents on whether they are legally married or not. It is irrelevant,” she said.

She further cited Article 7.1 of the United Nations' Convention of Rights of the Child, which states the child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and. as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.

Isma urges Catholics to accept apex court decision

Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) has urged the Roman Catholic Church to accept the Federal Court decision barring them from using the word `Allah' in their weekly publication the Herald.

Isma president Abdullah Zaik Rahman said with the ruling, the polemics regarding the ‘Allah’ issue should end.

“I hope the church will abide by the court's decision to ensure harmony in the country.

“Their recalcitrant behaviour (kedegilan) to proceed with the issue would not benefit anyone,” Abdullah Zaik (left) said in a statement quoted on IsmaWeb.

Yesterday, the apex court dismissed the Archbishop's review application over a decision by a seven-member bench who refused them the right to appeal.

This follows the panel headed by Federal Court judge Abdull Hamid Embong, unanimously ruled there was no procedural unfairness.

Abdullah Zaik further warned if the Roman Catholics do not accept the court's decision, it may prolong the animosity between Muslims and Christians.

“We will continue to be in crisis if we do not accept the decision by the country's judiciary institution,” he said.

Besides the Home Ministry and the government, which are respondents in the appeal, six Islamic councils – Selangor, Terengganu, Johor, Malacca, Kedah, Federal Territory, as well as the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association – stood as interveners to oppose the Archbishop's appeal.

'Court probing Razak’s role in Scorpene deal'

Suaram’s case filed in France against French naval company DCNS in 2011, on kickbacks allegedly paid out in Malaysia’s RM7.3 billion Scorpene submarine deal, is still “alive” according to a former director of the NGO, Cynthia Gabriel.

As the case was filed during her tenure, she still maintains an interest in it.

Gabriel (right) said to the best of her knowledge, the NGO, which filed the case in Paris in 2011, had not abandoned the case.

She said the court was trying to confirm whether political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who escaped trial and conviction for the murder of Mongolian national, Altantuya Shaariibuu, had acted in a formal capacity for Malaysia’s Defence Ministry.

Gabriel said so far, Abdul Razak, believed to be living in the United Kingdom now, was featured as a “friend or close ally” of Najib Abdul Razak, who at that time was deputy prime minister.

Najib, who is now Malaysia’s prime minister, was also defence minister during the procurement of the submarines, for which the deals were inked in 2002.

“There is no certainty that Abdul Razak had acted as a public sector officer. Whether he acted in a formal capacity for the Defence Ministry or as a friend of Najib, is now being determined by the court.

“His role was as the main negotiator in the procurement process,” said Gabriel, one of the founders of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), an anti-graft watchdog.

She said Suaram had asked several legal bigwigs and professors of law to actually study the case, to determine if Najib’s aides, like Abdul Razak, can be subjected to the The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) convention.

The OECD convention only applies to wrongdoing by public sector officials.

“The Malaysian government should answer and collaborate with the French courts in this matter but so far they have not,” Gabriel claimed.

Alleged kickbacks

Suaram had alleged that DCNS paid 114.9 million Euro (RM452 million) in kickbacks to Perimekar Sdn Bhd -  a company partially owned by Abdul Razak, in the sale of two Scorpene-class submarines to Malaysia.

Both the government and the “architect” of the deal, one Jasbir Singh Chahl, had defended the Scorpene contract award, saying it was made on a transparent basis to “the technically most qualified party on a commercially competitive negotiated price.”

In an interview with Bernama, Jasbir had explained that the contract between the Malaysian government and Perimekar Sdn Bhd was for “defined scope of works”, and provision of such services was within commercial norms.

Bernama had reported that Jasbir said Perimekar was nominated as the local vehicle to spearhead the submarine project, while Terasasi Sdn Bhd (TSB) was incorporated to serve as an external service provider to advise and assist Thales.

Jasbir had also claimed that Altantuya, who was murdered by two former bodyguards of Najib in 2006, was not involved when the deal was negotiated and finally signed in 2002.

However, during the initial court case into her murder, Abdul Razak had revealed that Altantuya (right) was his lover, and had come to Malaysia to “blackmail” him.

Her father, Setev Shaariibuu had always asserted that his daughter acted as a translator for Abdul Razak and was allegedly involved in business deals with him.

Last week, the Federal Court upheld the decision of the High Court, to sentence to death two former police special action unit (UTK) members, former chief inspector Azilah Hadri and corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, for Altantuya’s murder although the motive for killing her has never been established.

Meanwhile, Gabriel pointed out that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was reported as applying to use the Mutual Legal Assistance Act (MLA) to get help from the French authorities in its probe into the Malaysia’s purchase of the subs.

Gabriel also revealed that the court had interviewed three French personnel and is planning to indict two of them; one was the financial director of DCNS, a shipyard builder based in Paris.

“He was found to have abused his power and violated the OECD convention, which prohibits commissions and kickbacks to public officials,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel is aware that there have been questions over Suaram’s expenses for the case, dubbed Ops Scorpene, but pointed out the updated accounts for 2013 is on the NGO’s website.

The last fundraising exercise Suaram did was in July 2013, and the balance showed is RM30,598.88.

Home minister 'ambushed' by unhappy employer

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s visit today to the Immigration Department was marred with an ‘ambush’ by a disgruntled employer.

Based on a video recorded by KiniTV, the 40-year old man confronted Zahid and other immigration officers to raise his apprehension on the new online system for foreign worker registrations.

The man was heard raising his voice and telling the minister on the involvement of ‘middlemen’ and his concerns on the online system. However it was not clear what they were.

“If you want to catch me, go ahead. I am speaking frankly in front of the minister. (Middlemen) tell me that the immigration wants something; the other (party) also wants something

“Please throw away this bureaucracy. We want to get rid of corruption, stop everything,” the man who wore a chequered shirt, was heard saying.

Zahid however remained calm and collected while a crowd gathered and started recording videos and taking photos of the commotion.

He then told the immigration officers beside him to "listen for yourself" to the man’s queries.

One of the immigration officers then explained the new system was to eradicate corruption.

“That is the reason we have implemented the online law,” the officer said in the recording.

Zahid’s deputy minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaffar, on Jan 19 was quoted as saying by Bernama that the move was implemented to eliminate the “middlemen” culture and overcrowding at immigration booths by foreign workers.

Meanwhile, in the three minute long video, it was also seen that certain parties were trying to stop the public and cameramen from recording the incident.

Afterwards, Zahid was heard telling the media that the purpose of the visit was for him to see with his own eyes on the effectiveness of the new system.

He also admitted that there have been concerns raised by companies that have been operating via counters all this whileon  having to shift online.

Honesty in court dealings

Do we have such a weak judiciary system which cannot even uphold appointments? The Malaysian government needs to appoint serious people to become magistrates and judges.

Saravanan Forever

I am Saravanan, who is residing overseas. Last year, I filed a civil suit case in a local Malaysian court through my lawyer. 2 months back they called me for a hearing in a short period of time and I could not attend the case due to my health condition. I requested my lawyer to postpone the case so that I can attend the next case. And the magistrate was told that I was to come from overseas.

The hearing was fixed for the end of this month and my lawyer informed me 1.5 months in advance. The system in the West is not the same as in Malaysia. They are very strict and punctual in all dealings. I had to apply for a special permit to leave the country because I am under Social Security. Normally, a patient is not allowed to travel overseas. But I insisted to go because my lawyers are doing all the arrangements and I personally have to respect their efforts. This is simple understanding between human beings.

For Malaysians’ understanding, the Westerners are very particular about their appointments. For example, if they want to have dinner with someone they will make an appointment 1 or 2 weeks in advance and they will write it down in their diary. The same goes for any offices – they will write it down clearly and will not have 2 appointments at the same time. If they promise to meet us, it will definitely happen. There are 2 possibilities if they want to make changes in appointments. First, the person who is going to meet us will appoint his or her colleague otherwise they will change the date to the soonest date possible. So far, living in the West I have never seen hanky panky in legal matters. That is how they keep their country honest and punctual.

It goes the other way around in Malaysia. I was supposed to have a 2 days’ session in the court which will be the hearing too. One week earlier, I received an email from my lawyer saying “We regret to inform you that the trial for this matter which has been fixed on end of January 2015 has been adjourned by the Court to a later date. Therefore, you are not required to attend court on the above stated dates.
The reason given to us for the adjournment is that this matter will be transferred to another Court and will be heard before a new Magistrate”.

This was done after the magistrate understood that I am coming from overseas. The ticket has been bought and preparations for travel has been made. It concerns a person’s effort, money and time. Do we have such a weak judiciary system which cannot even uphold appointments? The Malaysian government needs to appoint serious people to become magistrates and judges.

The Bar Council and the Malaysian judicial body should be accountable for having bad appointments and promises. I am not living in Malaysia currently; who will be responsible for my effort and money wasted? According to my lawyer the magistrate is asking for a next date in March. Do you think it is easy to go back and come back the next month? This trip is already wasted, they are asking me to come again next month. Who is going to be responsible for my trip? There is no simple understanding in this matter.

I have been reading the latest news, for example even in some high profile cases they are changing the public prosecutor and judges according to the government’s will. It is really a shameful matter where there is no honesty in the judicial body which is supposed to hold the country’s pillar of truth. This letter is just my personal opinion, who have some guts to write about the truth. How about other people who have gone through such hassles? All my questions are to be answered by our truthful Malaysians.
I am also seeking the attention of Malaysian Bar Council.

Thank you

Court of Appeal: Islamic laws subject to Federal Constitution

Section 66 of the Negeri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment 1992 ruled unconstitutional, null and void.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: The Court of Appeal, in a 46-page written judgment, has declared Section 66 of the Negeri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment 1992, which bars men from cross-dressing as females in public as unconstitutional and void.

Judge Mohd Hishamudin Yunus said the transgenders’ case had merits.

Islam, the religion of the Federation, as defined under Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution, is subject to the limitations of the fundamental liberties of a person, the Court held. “Article 4(1) of the Federal Constitution declares the constitution as the supreme law and any law running contrary to the constitution shall be considered void.”

Justice Hishamudin cited Che Omar bin Che Soh v Public Prosecutor, a judgment by former lord president Salleh Abbas.

The word Islam in Article 3(1) has a restrictive meaning based on Article 3(4), which states that nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of the constitution.

“As long as Section 66 is in force, the appellants (the four transgenders or mak nyah’) will continue to live in uncertainty, misery and indignity. They now come before this court in the hope that they may be able to live with dignity and be treated as equal citizens of this nation,” said Justice Hishamudin in the unanimous judgment.

“We therefore hold that Section 66 is inconsistent with Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution in that the section deprives the appellants of their right to live with dignity.”

Articles 5 to 13 stipulate the rights of citizens of Malaysia, which are listed as Part II of the Federal Constitution.

Article 5(1) states that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty, save in accordance with law.

The Court of Appeal ruled on November 7 last year that transgenders have a gender identity disorder. It then declared Section 66 of the Negeri Sembilan Syariah law, which subjects transgenders to frequent arrests, as null and void.

The Negeri Sembilan government has filed an Application for Leave to appeal the decision. It will be heard by the Federal Court on Tuesday.

Sirul’s son speaks up

Facebook postings indicate that the fugitive's family is with him in Australia.

FMT

PETALING JAYA: It appears that fugitive Sirul Azhar Umar’s family is with him in Australia.

This is indicated in Facebook postings by a user who calls himself Shuk Sz and claims to be Sirul’s 19-year-old son.

Sirul, along with fellow policeman Azilah Hadri, was sentenced to death last week for the 2006 murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. He wasn’t in court for the sentencing, having left for Australia last October.

In one of his postings, Shuk Sz says Sirul was called to record a statement today, but does not say which authority has summoned him. He says if the statement is publicised, Malaysia’s reputation will suffer.

In an earlier posting, he says, “In all honesty, I am a son of Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar. To those who don’t know about his case, don’t just say what you like. Watch your mouth. If I talk to the press, Malaysia will fall. The PM will also fall.”

Replying to a user who insinuates that he is guilty of slander, Shuk Sz says, “I’m in Australia. I can say what I like. I can even curse the PM.”

Custodial deaths: NGOs demand answers

Suaram and Aliran are demanding police take proactive steps to stop the occurrence of further custodial deaths and to charge guilty officers.

FMT

GEORGE TOWN: Two civil rights groups here want the Penang CPO Senior Deputy Commissioner Abdul Rahim Hanafi to take proactive steps to stop the incidence of police custodial deaths, of which Penang had the highest in 2014.

Suaram and Aliran have claimed that of the 14 deaths in custody that took place across the country last year, nine occurred in Penang.

The NGOs said eight were deaths that occurred directly or indirectly in police lockups, while one occurred in Penang Prison.

In a joint statement, the NGOs said, “Each death is a travesty and tragedy for the persons concerned and their families.

“We have been highlighting the all too regular occurrence of custodial deaths for many years but little seems to have changed.

Yesterday Penang recorded its first custodial death of the year when a 63-year-old African under remand for a drug hearing died at the Penang Hospital due to heart complications.

The statement also said his was the second reported in the country this year, with the first being the death of a 31-year-old Indian man at the Ayer Molek police lockup in Johor.

“The police should be protecting the public; no one should be dying in police stations especially not in contentious circumstances, the statement read, adding, “Enough is enough. It is time to put a stop to this.”

Suaram and Aliran now want the Penang CPO to outline clearly the steps being taken to ensure no further custodial deaths in Penang and to investigate why last year’s deaths occurred.

The organisations also called on the CPO to provide full accounting to the families of the victims and to the public, concerning the circumstances surrounding the victims’ deaths and the steps taken to bring justice to the victims by charging the culprits.

“The Penang CPO should file charges against the police officers who are found to have transgressed their duties and were involved in causing the deaths of those under their protection.

“The CPO must do it immediately without fear or favour as a matter of urgent public interest,” said the NGOs.

Zahid asks Australia to hand over fugitive

Police have "put a formal request in, via the (Malaysian) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for his deportation" back to Malaysia.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia said Thursday it had formally asked Australia to hand over a former police commando sentenced to hang for the murder of a Mongolian model in a sensational political scandal linked to corruption allegations.

The fugitive, Sirul Azhar Umar, has been detained by authorities in Australia where he apparently fled recently ahead of a court decision last week in Malaysia that upheld his death sentence.

Australian media have said Sirul will not be sent back as Canberra forbids repatriating suspects who face the death penalty, setting up a potential tug-of-war.

Home Minister Zahid Hamidi told reporters Malaysian police have “put a formal request in, via the (Malaysian) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for his deportation” back to Malaysia.

Sirul and Azilah Hadri, once members of an elite unit that guards top ministers, were convicted of the 2006 killing of 28-year-old Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian model and interpreter involved in Malaysia’s controversy-shrouded purchase of French Scorpene submarines more than a decade ago.

Her remains were found in a jungle near Kuala Lumpur after apparently being blown up with military-grade explosives.

Malaysian government critics have long alleged Sirul and Azilah were scapegoats in the murder. Sirul has previously suggested he was taking the fall for higher-ups.

Whistle-blowers allege massive kickbacks to high-level Malaysian officials in the $1.1 billion 2002 purchase, and accusations have simmered for years that Altantuya was murdered to keep her quiet.

The issue has clouded the reputation of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was defence minister at the time of the deal. He became premier in 2009.

Altantuya was a lover of Abdul Razak Baginda — the man in charge of purchasing the submarines and a close associate of Najib’s.

Najib denies any wrongdoing but Malaysia’s authoritarian regime has steadfastly resisted calls for an investigation into the explosive affair.

Sirul had been able to leave the country because an appeals court in 2013 overturned the pair’s initial 2009 conviction, freeing them. But Malaysia’s highest court last week sided with a subsequent prosecution counter-appeal.

Azilah is in custody.

- AFP

Secret tunnel from Bukit Nanas to Klang River found!

It was never recorded on any map, strengthening evidence that it was a secret route.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Part of a secret tunnel, believed to be centuries old, stretching from Bukit Nanas to the Klang river bank has been unearthed, according to the Star Online.

The 10m tunnel was discovered six months ago by a contractor hired by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to rectify a collapsed slope. However, the authorities kept the discovery under wraps until Monday.

DBKL Civil Engineering and Drainage Department director Tan Kheng Chok said DBKL alerted the Malaysian Historical Society about the tunnel. “We believe the tunnel is part of a labyrinth of underground passageways that had been forgotten over time,” he said.

Tan said the narrow tunnel might have been used as an escape route during the Klang Civil War in 1866. “It will be turned into a tourist attraction,” he said.

Tan said the hillslope collapsed in May 2013 but rectification work did not take place until February last year.

An information board erected outside the tunnel, states that the tunnel shares similarities with tunnels found in Kota Raja Mahdi in Klang and Kota Melawati in Kuala Selangor as they are all located on a hill, near a river or under a palace.

It further noted that the digging technique was also very similar to the tunnel in Kota Raja Mahdi.

The Bukit Nanas tunnel is believed to be incomplete as heaps of soil was found.

It was never recorded on any map, strengthening evidence that it was a secret route.

It was learnt that the Mandahiling community populated the hill, originally known as Bukit Gombak, in the mid-19th century. The Godang Palace belonging to Tuanku Raja Asal, or Ja Asai, sat on the hilltop.

Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor expressed his excitement over the findings when he visited the tunnel on Monday. “Bukit Nanas is a historical site as recorded by the Selangor Historical Society,´ said Tengku Adnan. “During the Klang war between Raja Mahadi and Tengku Kudin about 147 years ago, the name Bukit Gombak was changed to Bukit Nanas.”

He recounted the story of how Raja Mahadi had refused to pay taxes to Sultan Abdul Samad.

“Raja Mahadi sought the help of the rich Sutan Naposo and the Mandahiling community headed by Raja Asal. Tengku Kudin, who was Sultan Abdul Samad’s son-in-law, sought the help of Bendahara Pahang, Wan Ahmad. Raja Mahadi’s side set up base in Bukit Gombak and used pineapple plants to fortify their defence. They believed the thorns from the plants would injure the barefoot attackers and ward off charms from the enemy. In the end, Raja Mahadi, Sutan Naposo and Raja Asal lost the battle. The rows of pineapple plants on the hill gave it its identity as Bukit Nanas.”

“Today the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve still stands tall in the midst of the cosmopolitan city, surrounded by rapid developments,” said Tengku Adnan.

Najib as yet to prove that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians who is the chief exponent of the politics of inclusion and moderation instead of allowing the rhetoric and politics of exclusion and extremism a free run in the country

By Lim Kit Siang Blog,

In his interview on the “Soal Jawab” programme over TV3 last night, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government remained committed to maintaining peace and harmony in the country by ensuring that no serious racial disputes broke out and that he would do his best to protect the interests and well-being of all Malaysians.

He stressed that as Prime Minister, he was responsible to the people of Malaysia and that he would do his best to protect the interests and well-being of Malaysians.

While Najib’s assurance is most welcome, it needs to be pointed out that Najib, coming to the end of his sixth year as Prime Minister in less than three months’ time, has yet to prove that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, and who is the chief exponent of the politics of inclusion and moderation instead of allowing the rhetoric and politics of exclusion and extremism a free run in the country.

No one doubts the eloquence of Najib in promoting the cause of moderation in international circles, with his initiative of the Global Movement of Moderates promoted thrice in the United Nations General Assembly, but unfortunately, Najib has yet to “walk the talk” of his periodical preaching of moderation in international forums in the local scene.

If Najib could put in practice 10% of his espousal and advocacy of the cause of moderation in the country as Prime Minister of Malaysia, he would have been more successful in gaining the trust and confidence of Malaysians.

Instead, Najib has the dubious distinction of being the Prime Minister with the lowest popularity poll.

The 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer survey found that only 45% of Malaysians trusted Putrajaya, down from last year’s 54%.

Najib’s failure to be the chief exponent of the politics of inclusion and moderation could be seen by his refusal to convene a special Parliament meeting for the revised 2015 Budget or even to invite Pakatan Rakyat leaders and MPs to discussions before the finalisation of the revised 2015 Budget.

In fact, not only Barisan Nasional leaders but even Cabinet Ministers were excluded in the process of formulation and finalisation of the revised 2015 Budget, as the Cabinet meeting yesterday was presented with a fait accompli of the revised 2015 Budget announced a day earlier.

Pakatan Rakyat leaders have repeatedly said that we are prepared to co-operate with the Prime Minister and Putrajaya to advance the cause of national reconciliation but the Prime Minister has yet to act on this offer to promote the cause of inclusion and moderation.

In his State of the Union Address yesterday, US President Barack Obama said:

“If you share in the broad vision I outlined tonight, join me in the work at hand.

“If you disagree with parts of it, I hope you’ll at least work with parts of it. I hope you’ll at least work with me where you do agree.

“And I commit to every Republican here tonight that I will not only seek out your ideas, I will seek to work with you to make this country stronger.”

There is now great controversy whether Obama could “walk the talk” of the commitment he made in his State of Union address.

But in Malaysia, Najib has yet to make a commitment to be prepared to work with all Malaysians, regardless of political differences – and the Prime Minister is still keeping the 25 Eminent Malays who penned the Open Letter to the Prime Minister last month cooling their heels waiting for a meeting with the Prime Minister!

Free speech is not absolute

The Star
Reflecting On The Law by SHAD SALEEM FARUQI

Rights per se have no value. It is in the use to which they are put; it is the restraint and responsibility with which they are exercised.

THE massacre by Muslim gunmen of a dozen employees of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Jan 7 was an abomination, an outrage, an atrocity and “an evil deed without a name”. It was a savagely disproportionate act of revenge.

However, it must be recorded that some Muslims had indeed moved the French courts to prohibit the magazine from committing vile acts of blasphemy but had lost in the courts. It is a matter of speculation how things would have worked out if the admirable French (and European Union) apparatus against discrimination, racism and anti-Semitism had been extended equally to give shade to the Muslim minority.

Europe is in the throes of Islamophobia. Geert Wilders, Theo van Gogh and Pim Fortuyn of the Netherlands, Marine Le Pen and French Southern League, Northern League of Italy, Democrats of Sweden, People’s Party of Denmark and Freedom Party of Germany are in the forefront.

How “the heroic Enlightenment-inspired West” must react to this affliction is a matter for Europeans to decide. Outsiders like me can only react with concern to how educated and otherwise wonderful people can delink Islamophobia from racism so that today in Europe it is possible to be both anti-Islam and anti-racist.

For eight years, the irreverent, sadistic, rogue editors and cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo used the delightful art of cartooning not for humouring but for hurting and humiliating. The journalists defiled the sanctum sanctorum of all religions and pursued a warped passion for blasphemy despite being told that they were offensive to the faithful and risked danger to their innocent workers.

As we pray for the souls of those murdered, I hope that this tragedy will lead to fundamental rethinking on a number of issues:

Western values: It is argued by some that Charlie Hebdo represented free speech and, by extension, the value system of the West. To hold up the magazine as the standard bearer of Western civilisation is to sully the West. Charlie Hebdo was a bigoted, incendiary and racist publication. It specialised in Muslim baiting. It banalised Arabs and Islam. Surely these are not “Western values”.

An absolute right: Many Westerners assert that freedom of speech is an absolute, non-negotiable right. This view is not supportable morally or intellectually. Rights per se have no value. It is what rights are for; it is the use to which they are put; it is the restraint and responsibility with which they are exercised that is important.

The assertion that speech is an absolute right is a legal lie. No nation adopts an “all or nothing” attitude. Everywhere, freedom of speech co-exists with laws against defamation, contempt of court, privacy, confidentiality, public order, national security and terrorism. Nowhere does one have the right to shout “fire” in a crowded cinema hall.

A Council of Europe Convention outlaws “public provocation to terrorism”. Edward Snowden tells us that state surveillance of information is widespread in the West.

Public order laws are used regularly in the United Kingdom and Germany to criminalise pro-Nazi ideas and any analysis that departs from the officially sanctioned version of the holocaust. In February 2006, Austria jailed British historian David Irving for three years for denying the holocaust. Across Europe there is legislation against hate speech, racism, anti-Semitism and against defamation of whole groups.

The existentialist reality is that in the West, overt and covert censorship is widespread. Only that it is more refined, non-governmental and decentralised.

For example, Israel’s barbarous treatment of the Palestinians is censored out of the public domain. Any journalist, professor, activist, public official or clergy who dares to speak critically of Israel or report accurately the brutalities of its illegal occupation is made to pay a heavy price.

Spiritual aspect: Human beings are not merely physical creatures. There are also the spiritual, emotional and psychological facets of our personality. Just as we have no right to violate the physical person of another, we should have no right to injure the spiritual, emotional side of another’s personality.

No advocate of free speech should have the right to denigrate our religion, our prophets, our mother, father and other objects of our devotion to such an extent that our mind, heart and soul find it difficult to bear the hurt and humiliation.

If the free speech advocate pushes us beyond the precipice, he should expect some reaction. His Holiness the Pope said it plainly in Manila: “You cannot provoke, you cannot insult other people’s faith, you cannot mock it.”

Concept of the sacred: What is missing in Western commentary on this Paris tragedy is lack of understanding of “the sacred”. Even in this day and age many people feel reverence towards their religion. Those who have lost this sense of the sacred have no right to humiliate and caricature those who still have it.

False attribution: There is a general tendency in the Western media that whenever wrongs are committed by Muslims, their religion is immediately given the blame. But a similar attribution is not made, and rightly so, when atrocities are committed, of a hundred-fold magnitude, by Christian leaders of the North Atlantic nations.

Selective condemnation: While we mourn the innocent who were brutally murdered in Paris, we should also express indignation at genocide and war crimes elsewhere. Day in and day out, innocent families are being butchered in Gaza. A 65-year-old genocide is in place in occupied Palestine. United States and Israeli drones knock out homes and mosques and extinguish lives regularly, mercilessly and in total defiance of law.

Compared to the Paris massacre (17 dead), several million have been killed in US-EU initiated and financed military expeditions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Libya and Syria. No bells toll for them.

While condemning the perfidy at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, we should be consistent in our commemorations and condemnations. As Martin Luther King once said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

> Shad Saleem Faruqi is Emeritus Professor of Law at UiTM. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.

Malaysia Confident Of Being Able To Breeze Through Strong Headwinds - Najib

From Nor Baizura Basri

DAVOS (Switzerland), Jan 22 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is confident of being able to breeze through the strong global headwinds following the country's strong economic fundamentals, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib raised his concerns on the current falling global oil prices and believed the pre-emptive measures announced recently were a reality check.

"Of course, we are concerned with the headwinds but we believe in strong fundamentals.

"The market will make its correction and in due course, we will overcome strong headwinds and we will be back on track," he said in a keynote address at a business luncheon on the sidelines of the 45th World Economic Forum held here.

Najib, who is also the finance minister, said apart from these measures, having a diversified economy as well as continuing to be more competitive, did help in going through these economic turbulences.

For the past five years, Malaysia has a "good run" in terms of economic performance including hitting an all-time high in stock market as well as raking in the highest foreign direct investments in history in 2013, Najib said.

"In short, Malaysia is still a good story to tell and I hope you are equally convince about it.

"So, welcome to Malaysia and I am hoping you (investors) will be our partners and believe in Malaysia's story," he said.

Apart from that, Malaysia's location at the heart of Asia offered tremendous growth potential for the world as well as its other nine-member of Asean grouping, he said.

"Asean will be a major force to be considered and within Asean at the heart of Asean, lies Malaysia," he said.

Najib said by declaring Asean as an economic community this year, it meant there would be more movements towards reducing most of the tariffs, working towards a single market and a single production base.

"Asean is home to more than 620 million people and will have a combined gross domestic product of US$4 trillion by 2020," he said.

The business luncheon was hosted by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Malaysian Investment Development Authority and InvestKL.

About 55 top global industry honchos as well as 39 local industry captains attended the event including Royal Vopak, Barclays, Huawei, LaFarge, Novartis and many more.

Local captains of industry include Permodalan Nasional Bhd President and Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman, Axiata President and Group Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Jamaludin Ibrahim and UEM Group Chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali.