Mini-sub to dive again after aborting first MH370 search

By AFP

Perth (Australia) (AFP) – A mini-sub hunting missing Flight MH370 was set to sweep the Indian Ocean seabed again Tuesday after cutting short its first mission, as Malaysia vowed to reveal any ‘black box’ data found.

The unmanned submarine equipped with sonar gear was deployed Monday night from the Australian ship Ocean Shield, which has spearheaded the hunt for the Boeing 777 that vanished on March 8 with 239 people aboard.

But the dive by the Bluefin-21 detected nothing of interest before it automatically aborted the mission after breaching its maximum operating depth, the US Navy said in a statement.

The Australian agency coordinating the search said the Bluefin-21 “exceeded its operating depth limit of 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) and its built-in safety feature returned it to the surface”.

The unmanned Autonomous Underwater Vehicle was undamaged and set for a second sonar sweep during the day, weather permitting, officials said.

US Navy Captain Mark Matthews said the vehicle had exceeded programmed operational limits and automatically resurfaced.

“In this case the vehicle’s programmed to fly 30 metres over the floor of the ocean to get a good mapping of what’s beneath,” he told CNN from Perth.

“It went to 4,500 metres and once it hit that max depth, it said ‘This is deeper than I’m programmed to be’, so it aborted the mission.”

Officials said the crew would now refine the task to cope with the depth encountered.

“To account for inconsistencies with the sea floor, the search profile is being adjusted to extend the sonar search for as long as possible,” the US Navy statement said.

Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre chief Angus Houston announced Monday officials would end three weeks of listening for signals from the plane’s black boxes and launch the submarine operation.

The mini-sub would conduct a sonar survey of the silty ocean floor for 16 hours at a time in hopes of finding some wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines flight which vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The US navy estimated it would take the Bluefin-21 from six weeks to two months to scan the entire search area, which has been deduced using satellite data and the detection of electronic pulses linked to black box recorders which were last heard a week ago.

Houston has described the detections as the best lead in the hunt for the plane, and added Monday that an oil slick had also been sighted in the search area.

It would take several days to test a sample of the oil ashore, but Houston said he did not think it was from one of the many ships involved in the hunt.

The cause of the plane’s disappearance, after being diverted hundreds of miles off course, remains a mystery. No debris has been found despite an enormous search involving ships and planes from several nations.

It is 39 days since the plane vanished, presumably crashing into the southern Indian Ocean, and the batteries powering the black box tracker beacons had a life of only around 30 days.

Ocean Shield detected four signals linked to the black boxes, but the last ping came on Tuesday last week and officials suspect the batteries are now dead.

Houston has stressed the enormous difficulties of working at great depths in such a remote location and cautioned about the difficulties of finding the black boxes.

If they are ever found, Malaysia’s Transport Minister pledged Tuesday to make public any data recovered, as the government battles widespread criticism over the transparency of its investigation.

“It’s about finding the truth. And when we… find out the truth, definitely we have to reveal what’s in the black box,” Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters.

“So there is no question of it not being released.”

The Malaysian government has been tight-lipped about its ongoing investigation into the disappearance of the jet, adding to the anger and frustration of relatives.

It has come under fire for a seemingly chaotic initial response, while the scarcity of official information on MH370 has prompted questions over its transparency.

Hishammuddin said at the weekend that Malaysia’s attorney general had been sent abroad to confer with the International Civil Aviation Organisation and determine which country would have custody of the black box, if it is ever found.

But he shrugged off the importance of the custody issue on Tuesday.

“I don’t think it’s important who gets custody as far as I’m concerned,” he told reporters.

Malaysian authorities insist they are hiding nothing but need to be cautious on commenting on ongoing investigations.

Hishammuddin also said an “international investigation team” that Malaysia plans to set up to probe MH370′s disappearance would be transparent and operate in accordance with international standards.

Gov will intervene to help find solution to jurisdictional dispute: Nancy

The New Straits Times 
by PUNITHA KUMAR

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will initiate talks between the syariah and civil courts to propose a mechanism in solving the long-term jurisdictional dispute faced by both sides.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and de facto law minister Nancy Shukri said she will raise the matter at the next Cabinet meeting.

"Both courts need to sit down together and discuss this.

"It is now beyond the law because both sides are following the law," she said after launching two newly-minted specialist construction courts at the Duta Court Complex here with Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria.

Nancy was commenting this in light of the recent case involving six-year-old V. Mithran who was abducted by his muslim father on April 9 despite his non-muslim mother gaining custody through the Civil Court. 

Arifin, on the other hand, said the case was pending at the Court of Appeal.

"We do not answer academic questions and will see how it is resolved (at the courts)," he said stating that newspaper reports had said the father will be filing an appeal against the civil court's decision to award the custody to the mother.

He also said matters relating to policies will be dealt by the government.

Meanwhile, the two specialist construction courts, which has been operating since April last year, have seen a total of 162 cases filed.

The courts, among others, will deal with cases involving building and construction disputes, engineering disputes and claims by and againt engineers.

It will also handle challenges to decision of arbitrators in construction and construction-related matters.

The establishment of the courts kicked off after the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act (CIPAA) was passed in June 2012. The Act will take effect beginning tomorrow.

Malaysia is the second country in the world that has a specialist court for construction. The first is the United Kingdom which established the Technology and Construction Court (TCC).

Present during the event were Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof, Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Tajuddin Ali, chief judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin, chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, TCC judge Robert Akenhead and Bar Council president Christopher Leong.

Cooperation In Asean Important To Address Emerging Security Challenges - Muhyiddin

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) -- Regional cooperation, in particular in Asean, and the networks of global diplomatic relationships were important to collectively address emerging security challenges, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today.

He said such effective and close cooperation would continue to generate the ability to identify and address threats of any sort which might be detrimental to regional security and stability.

"As such, I am comforted that the world is not only recognising the importance of Asean as a platform for maintaining peace and stability among its members, but as a forum for engagements with regional powers such as China, India, Japan and Korea.

"It is a known fact that since the formation of Asean in 1967, there has not been any open conflict among its member countries," he said in his closing address at the Putrajaya Forum 2014, here, Tuesday.

Muhyiddin said this was because Asean's way of resolving problems and crises through consensus and mutual respect had indeed gone a long way towards avoiding unnecessary conflicts and tension.

Themed 'Strengthening Security and Regional Stability', the forum was organised in conjunction with the four-day 14th Defence Services Asia (DSA) Exhibition and Conference which ends on April 17.

Muhyiddin said: "When Malaysia chairs Asean next year, there will indeed be more challenges that the 10-country grouping needs to face collectively among the Asean family and beyond."

He said the Asean Regional Forum, now consisting of 27 member countries, continued to complement the various bilateral and multilateral arrangements and was indeed an avenue to address security threats in the region, that could be continuously reviewed and upgraded.

"Malaysia is also vying for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council next year with the candidature theme of 'Peace and Security through Moderation'.

"This augurs well for Asean countries, as I am sure we will be able to speak and give our views by taking into account the importance of diplomacy and moderation in all aspects of international relations," he said.

Muhyiddin said maintaining security and stability in this region would largely rely on continued consultations and solidarity in addressing a security threat, common virtues which the Asean family had always espoused.

On the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370, which has affected the nation profoundly, the deputy prime minister said this incident not only brought the whole nation and region together but also instilled camaraderie among the Asean members and beyond.

"Twenty-six nations assisted in the search and recovery operations and coordinating their efforts which we have had to undertake involved many new experiences.

"I believe the trust, respect, transparency displayed and above all, the close cooperation forged among us will put us in good stead in the future when faced with a security challenge," he said.

The incident, Muhyiddin said, had garnered close cooperation that would surely contribute to the overall stability of the region in future, particularly so if Malaysia's bid to be a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council was endorsed.

On the DSA 2014 forum, he said it had provided the right platform for industry experts and players to share a common desire in strengthening cooperation and initiatives that promoted greater security and stability in the region.

NGO Islam: Mualaf tidak culik anak

Zahid backs IGP's refusal to act on Deepa's case

Bhakkar cannibals return to eating human flesh

Express News screengrab of the brothers.

BHAKKAR: Two brothers who were previously found guilty of cannibalism and detained by the police have now returned to eating human flesh and an FIR has been registered against them on the charges of terrorism, Express News reported on Monday.

Arif and Farman, who are from the small town of Darya Khan in Bhakkar district, were first arrested in April 2011 after they were found to have disinterred corpses in the local graveyard for the purpose of eating them.

It was reported that the brothers had dug up and devoured parts from upto 150 bodies before they were finally caught.

Today, the police conducted a raid at their house and recovered the head of a boy. According to DPO Bhakkar Ameer Abdullah, Arif has been arrested and he admitted to eating human flesh while his brother Farman is still on the loose.

Search operations are being conducted to arrest Farman.

Since Pakistan has no specific laws against cannibalism, they were originally arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) section of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), and were later charged under section 295-A of the PPC. They were sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined Rs50,000 each.

After the completion of their sentence, they were released from Mianwali’s district jail and returned to their hometown, to the shock and outrage of residents.

Interestingly, the two brothers had spent most of their two year prison term in King Edwards medical college Lahore, where they were being examined by the neurophysiology department.

Zahid backs IGP's refusal to act in Deepa's case

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is backing Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar's refusal to act against a Muslim convert father accused of kidnapping his son from the Hindu mother.

"What has been stated by the inspector-general of police is an official stance of the Home Ministry," Zahid told journalists in Kuala Lumpur when asked if the police would act on the complaint.

The mother, S Deepa, has complained that her ex-husband Izwan Abdullah assaulted her and took away her son after the High Court in Seremban on April 7 granted her custody of her six-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter.

However, there is also a contradicting syariah court order issued last year granting Izwan custody of the children, whom he converted to Islam without Deepa's knowledge.

Khalid said police will not act due to the conflicting orders of the two courts and urged the estranged couple to "talk it out".

Scant details on kidnapping

On a separate matter, Zahid said the authorities are negotiating to reduce the ransom for a Chinese tourist and Filipino worker kidnapped from Semporna, Sabah, on April 2.

 

However, he declined to reveal further information, citing the safety of the hostages.

 

"The police are working with a number of parties that are capable of negotiating directly with the kidnappers.

 

"The kidnapping is solely for profit and it is dangerous for the police or me to reveal about our moves to save the hostages," Zahid said.

 

Islamic NGOs: Taking away son is 'not kidnap'

 

A group of Islamic NGOs from Negri Sembilan said today that a Muslim convert father took away his six-year-old son from the custody of his former wife according to a syariah court order last year granting him custody of the children.

His Hindu ex-wife, S Deepa, won custody of their two children from the High Court in Seremban last Monday, but the NGOs claim that the civil court custody order did not cancel out the syariah court order, which granted custody to Izwan Abdullah, formerly known as N Viran.

"The High Court judgment on April 7 did not have any order that cancelled the syariah court order. Izwan believes that it is still in effect," said Shamsul Azhar Yahya, the secretary of the coalition of Islamic NGOs.

As such, Shamsul Azhar said, the claim that Izwan had "kidnapped" his son from the custody of his former wife, who is a Hindu, “is overboard”.

“Based on the facts, I think what has been said in the newspapers is not 100 percent true. Using the word 'kidnap' is not appropriate to describe Izwan’s action.

“However, most mainstream papers did state that both parties have court orders granting them custody,” Shamsul Azhar told a press conference in Seremban today.

Affidavit filed

He also said Izwan had filed an affidavit today with the High Court explaining why he had taken the son away.

"The affidavit is aimed to answer accusations and negative reports saying that Izwan had kidnapped the son," Shamsul Azhar said.

Izwan took the boy away from Deepa’s house in Jelebu two days after she was granted custody over their two children, injuring Deepa in the process.

Malaysian Syariah Lawyers Association representative Hanif Hassan, who was also present at the press conference, said the federal and state governments should enact a stronger law to settle disputes like these.

However, Hanif did not elaborate on this particular case as it is still under the court process.

Mum wants children's conversion revoked

When the High Court granted S Deepa custody of her two children, she had no immediate plan to revoke their unilateral conversion to Islam by her ex-husband Izwan Abdullah.

But now that Izwan has taken away their six-year-old son from her house in Jelebu without her permission, Deepa has resolved to act.

"When they turn 18, they (the children) can choose what religion they want to (follow). I have nothing against Islam, because there are Muslims in my family too," she told Malaysiakini, referring to her mother, Siti Aishah, who is a convert.

Deepa, a Hindu, was responding to Izwan's claims that he took away their son in order to protect the child from being turned against Islam.

She said her lawyers are filing a case against Izwan for contempt of court.

Deepa, a clerk, has gone into hiding “before Izwan takes away my nine-year-old daughter” as well.

She pointed out that High Court judge Justice Zabariah Mohd Yusof had only decided to grant custody to her after interviewing the children.

"She asked who they wanted to be with. Only after that did she decide to give custody to me," said Deepa, 30.

She claimed that this was not the first time Izwan has taken the children away from her. Although she has “lodged numerous police reports”, no action has been taken.

Last Monday, the High Court had granted Deepa a divorce and custody of the children, but she is required to pursue a separate case to revoke the children's conversion.

Izwan, formerly known as N Viran, converted to Islam early last year and then converted the two children to Islam last April without Deepa’s consent.

When Deepa tried to revoke their conversion, religious authorities in the state invited her to convert to Islam as well, she said.

Deepa and Izwan, also 30, have been estranged for a few years. He now works with an Islamic NGO called Kasih Sayang.

More brickbats for cops over 'kidnap' of minor

Wanita MIC has ticked off Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar for refusing to take action against a father accused of kidnapping his son after the High Court had granted custody of the boy to the mother.

"Khalid has taken the issue lightly by (allowing) more men to continue thinking that the culture (of violence) is still okay, and that the police will take their own time to take action or (perhaps) not even take action," Wanita MIC head Mohana Muniandy said in a statement.

In the middle of the conversion-cum-custody battle is S Deepa, who has accused her Muslim convert husband Izwan Abdullah of assaulting her and abducting their son two days after she gained custody of their two children.

Mohana described Izwan's actions as a criminal act and demanded action by the police.

"Deepa was assaulted after the verdict (granting her custody) was passed. By law, serious action must be taken against Izwan. Wanita MIC urges the IGP to do so," she said.

Izwan had converted to Islam, and then converted his six-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter without Deepa's knowledge.

He won custody of the children from the syariah court but the decision of the High Court in Seremban on April 7 gave custody back to Deepa.

The situation was further complicated after Khalid refused to act against Izwan for the alleged assault and kidnap, citing the conflicting decisions of the civil and syariah courts.

Instead, Khalid urged the estranged couple to "talk it out".

Tourism Minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, who was previously de facto law minister, has slammed Khalid for not acting in a case of "clear-cut kidnapping".

Mohana (right) stressed that the Guardianship of Infants Act 1961 gives guardianship rights to both parents in the event of conversion.

"Wanita MIC strongly urges that there be a proper guideline and procedure for conversion of minors and that the mother (in this case) must be informed,” she said.

"The children should go through proper counselling and other religious details given before being converted.”

She added that MIC has set up a task force of lawyers to look into women's rights on the matter and will also offer to assist Deepa.

LFL: Serve all or resign

Meanwhile, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) called on Khalid to resign if he is not able to serve all Malaysians.

LFL said the police chief must not cite "conflicting jurisdictions" for the inaction of the police, since it was clear that Izwan's action was criminal in nature.

"The decision of the syariah court was ultra vires and bad in law as under the Federal Constitution (Second List in the 9th Schedule), it is clear that the syariah court does not have jurisdiction over non-Muslims.

"Further, Izwan and Deepa (left) were married under civil law, the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976. Therefore all issues of divorce, custody of children and other matters can only be decided under the same Act and cannot be circumvented by one spouse converting into Islam," it added.

The policeby turning a blind eye to Izwan's criminal action, LFL said, had send the wrong message that they are not willing to protect the rights of a non-Muslim spouse in the event of custodial dispute.

"We remind the IGP that the Federal Constitution is still the supreme law of Malaysia and it is vital that all citizens, regardless of ethnicity or religion are treated equally, a right guaranteed under Article 8.

"Laws and court judgments will be rendered meaningless if the police are able to pick and choose which ones to enforce.

"If the IGP feels that he is unable to defend the rights of all Malaysians, and not just Malaysian Muslims, then he is not fit to lead the police force and should resign," LFL added.

‘IGP must respect the law’

Lawyers for Liberty calls for the IGP's resignation if he is unable to defend the rights of all Malaysians.

PETALING JAYA: Laws and court judgments will be meaningless if the police are allowed to pick and choose which one to enforce, said Michelle Yesudas, legal and campaign coordinator for Lawyers for Liberty.

Yesudas was commenting on IGP Khalid Abu Bakar’s refusal to act against Muslim convert Izwan Abdullah who kidnapped his son from estranged wife S Deepa.

The mother, who was granted custody of the child by the Seremban High Court, had wanted the police to arrest Izwan for violating a court order.

The IGP had advised Deepa to settle the matter privately as there were two court orders – civil and syariah.

“By turning a blind eye and citing ‘conflicting jurisdiction’, the IGP is sending the wrong message that the police are unwilling to protect the rights of a non-Muslim spouse in the event of custodial dispute,” Yesudas said in a statement today.

The marriage between Izwan and Deepa was conducted under civil law, the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976.

She said therefore all issues of divorce, custody of children and other matters could only be decided under the same Act.

“This cannot be circumvented by one spouse converting into Islam,” added Yesudas.

“Under the Federal Constitution, the Syariah court does not have any jurisdiction over non-Muslims.

“Furthermore, Izwan’s act of snatching the child was criminal in nature,” she added.

The abduction was not an isolated incident as there are cases of spouses gaining custody by converting their children without the knowledge of their non-Muslim spouse through the Syariah court.

“We urge the IGP to respect the rule of law and apply it equally without discrimination against ethnicity or religion.”

“If he is unable to defend the rights of all Malaysians, then he is not fit to lead the police force and should resign,” said Yesudas.

Family wants answers over death in custody

The family suspects foul play and wants to know how Harirajan died while in Kajang prison custody.

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR and family members are seeking for the truth after 34-year-old N Harirajan was found dead in Kajang prison last Friday morning.

In a statement today, PKR’s legal bureau deputy chief S Jayathas said Harirajan’s family were informed by Kajang prison authorities on Friday afternoon that he had died of HIV/Aids.

However, family members who went to claim his body from the Kajang hospital mortuary were shocked to see bruises on the his chest, head, stitches above his right eye and both his ears bleeding.

Jayathas said that when the family requested for a copy of the postmortem report completed on Friday afternoon, the pathologist had refused and told them come back and collect the report on April 14.

According to the deceased’s younger brother, N Harikrishnan, a magistrate had then given the family a blank piece of paper for processing the release of Harirajan’s body.

Unhappy with the condition of his brother’s body, Harikrishnan refused to sign the blank paper and insisted a second postmortem be conducted.

He lodged a police report at the Kajang police station stating that the family suspect foul play.

Converted to Islam?

Earlier Friday morning, the Kajang Islamic Religious department informed the family that Harirajan had converted to Islam.

The family insisted that religious officers showed them proof of his conversion. However the officers then left the hospital as they could not provide any documented proof.

“We, the family, want to know the truth and we are waiting for a full postmortem report which is expected today,” said Harikrishnan.

“We will only claim the body after we receive the full postmortem report,” he added.

It was learnt that Harirajan had been arrested last December for robbery and was serving his six-year imprisonment sentence.

Jayathas said the case on Harirajan’s custodial death will be led by Lawyers for Liberty’s G Sivamalar.

When contacted, Sivamalar said that Harikrishan had lodged a second police report at Kajang police station on her advise, seeking for a second autopsy.

“We are looking at conducting the second autopsy either at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital or the University Malaya Medical Centre,” she said, adding the report will be submitted to Kajang hospital for further action.

Sivamalar added that the family were dissatisfied with the first post mortem as it did not cover the bruises on Harirajan’s body and face.

The post mortem report indicated that Harirajan died of coronary artery and retroviral disease.

Three things we learned from: the Seremban child abduction

Justin Ong, The Malay Mail Online

On Wednesday, S. Deepa’s joy of winning custody of her two children from estranged husband Izwan Abdullah, a Muslim convert, just days earlier turned to terror when he abducted their son from her Seremban home.

But that terror must have been eclipsed by the shock of learning that the police cannot — or will not? — do anything as the man was granted custody of the children by a shariah court last year.

At first glance, the matter had appeared less tangled than the convoluted custody battles that usually accompany child conversion cases, but it soon transpired that such matters inexorably become complicated when religion is involved.

Here are the three things we have learned from the case so far.

1. Unilateral child conversions are still happening despite Cabinet ban.

In 2009, the Cabinet announced a prohibition against the unilateral conversion of children to Islam by either parent, to prevent further cases where custody battles are locked in a legal limbo that sits in the void between the civil and shariah court systems.

Then de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the Cabinet had decided that children must be raised according to a couple’s shared faith at the time of marriage, to prevent religion from being turned into a tool in later custody battles.

While the letter of the law in this case is clear, the application is anything but: Izwan converted both his son and daughter to Islam on his own in 2013, nearly four years after the Cabinet expressly forbade this.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s pronouncement that authorities will not pursue Izwan for taking his son despite the High Court ruling granting custody to the mother is a troubling development in the already complicated subject.

This suggests the Muslim spouse has the ability to forcibly take custody of his children notwithstanding a civil court order, and to do so without repercussion.

With non-Muslims already having no standing before the shariah court that only recognises followers of Islam, to have an ostensibly non-religious enforcement agency yield so readily to the Islamic legal system despite what even Minister Nazri calls clear-cut kidnapping is a dangerous precedent for the entire country.

2. No resolution until the Federal Court fulfils its duty

Malaysia operates parallel legal systems with civil law that applies universally and shariah law that is restricted to Muslims.

In theory, the two systems are distinct and separate. In practice, however, the lines are often blurred, and more so in joint cases when some parties are Muslim and others are not.

Deepa’s case is a clear instance of where the overlap occurs, and with no proper resolution. Which is the superior and which is the subordinate legal system?

In 2010, Malaysia’s apex court was granted the opportunity to provide clarity on the issue.

Then, the Federal Court heard the inter-religious custody battle between Shamala Sathiyaseelan, a Hindu mother, and her Muslim ex-husband for the right to their two children.

Among others, it was asked to decide which — the civil court or the Shariah court — prevailed when conflicting orders were made with regards to the custody of children.

But rather than providing a much-needed answer, the country’s highest court chose the easy way out by not deciding at all. It abdicated its duty to rule on law and chose to entertain the triviality of Shamala’s self-enforced exile from the country.

Until the Federal Court one day gets another chance to revisit the issue, Deepa’s will unlikely be the last in the litany of such cases.

3. More worrying as hudud creeps nearer

Kelantan is again attempting to enforce the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment II 1993 that would allow it to roll out hudud law in the state.

In attempts to assuage non-Muslim apprehension over the Islamic penal code that permits for punishments such as amputation, flogging and death by stoning, the system’s proponents insist that it will not extend beyond adherents of Islam.

Given the palpable extension of shariah law into the lives of non-Muslims, however, such assurances are empty platitudes at best and disingenuous consolation at worst.

It is unclear whether Kelantan’s endeavours will ever be successful, but it is unthinkable that the country could do with another intricate criminal system when the civil-shariah quagmire is as intractable as it is now.

MH370 exposes Hall of Shame

 Malaysiakini

The grand self-proclamation of “Malaysia, the Best Democracy in the World”, with its fantastic education system which rivals the British, American and German systems is a myth designed for die-hard Umno Baru supporters. This fairy-tale was shattered by the disappearance of MH370.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, like the prime ministers before him, has let down the nation, but the investigation into MH370 has trashed Malaysia’s reputation.

We need a cull of the political class to regain our credibility as a nation. We should start with the following initiates of the ‘Hall of Shame’. Politicians head the list, then civil servants. If the civil servants were to be replaced before the politicians, the new ones would be corrupted by their political masters, who dictate to them.

Malaysia has been on auto-pilot for several decades and the nation has been performing like a rudderless aeroplane. MH370 signals the beginning of the end of Umno Baru.

The Malaysian Hall of Shame

Number One: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. Two words describe the MH370 “investigations”: Mismanaged. Mishandled. (MM).

MH370 may have been an unprecedented incident but the crisis management team was shambolic, with several people issuing contradictory official statements. Our confidence and trust has been shaken to the core despite all the big talk and the hundreds of billions of ringgits spent on military hardware and sophisticated equipment. We may have the best machinery that money can buy, but are monkeys operating them?

In the first few days of MH370’s disappearance, Najib and his wife, the self-styled ‘First Lady of Malaysia’ (FLOM), sought to gain cheap publicity by “weeping with the families of the passengers and crew of MH370”.

Did Najib make a premature announcement that MH370 had crashed into the Southern Indian Ocean, based on one mathematical interpretation by one company? The local press are conditioned not to ask awkward questions but foreign journalists demand answers.

Number Two:Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. Hishammuddin (left in photo) justified Malaysia’s mismanagement of the MH370 investigations by saying that history will judge Malaysia well.

People ask, “Who writes the history books if not the Malaysian cabinet and their proteges?”
Hishammuddiin told the families of passengers and crew of MH370 that miracles do happen. The act of giving false hope is as bad as trading on people’s grief.

Number Three: Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. His response to the stolen passport fiasco at KLIA is symptomatic of a sick nation. He told parliament, “Furthermore, Interpol’s information of lost (passports) may slow down the process of immigration checks at counters.”

Zahid prefers speed to efficiency and safety/security concerns. Interpol has since given Zahid a dressing down and said the checks take 0.2 seconds per passport.

Malaysia is a hub for human trafficking and people have alleged that our police and immigration officials are involved. Will Zahid clean up his department?

Number Four: Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri. Abdul Rahim told Parliament that the RMAF “assumed” that Flight MH370 had been ordered to turn back by the civilian air traffic controllers.

Following a public outcry, he backpedalled and said that HE had made this assumption. So did the RMAF make this assumption or was Abdul Rahim forced to retract his statement. His U-turn is typical of the tactics of the government of Malaysia.

Lack of communication

Number Five: The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman. Azharuddin contradicted the statements of the home ministry and the inspector-general of polcie (IGP). More worrying than this is the lack of communication between the military and civil aviation authorities.

The MH370 investigation has lacked transparency and is mired in intrigue. This incident has reminded us of the question, by the opposition MP Nurul Izzah Anwar in June 2012, about the roles of the DCA and the Transport Ministry in the award of the contract for the supply of the RM128.4 million air traffic control system to a minster’s family through “closed tender”.

Three weeks ago, we were told that the final words from the cockpit were “All right, good night”. In the past few days, the DCA issued a correction and said the final words were “Good night. Malaysian Three-Seven-Zero”.

How can the public be expected to put their faith in the DCA or the investigative bodies with such a simple error as this? So what else is wrong?

Number Six: MAS CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya. When the reputations of the pilot and co-pilot on MH370 were being trashed, Ahmad Jauhari (right) failed to defend his men. Although he did speak on their behalf, he waited several days and the damage was already done. His failure to act immediately demoralised all of the MAS employees.

The sending of a text message to the families of the passengers and crew of MH370, ahead of Najib’s announcement that MH370 had gone down in the southern Indian Ocean, is symptomatic of the poor customer relations in MAS. Many people have previously stated that their complaints are rarely acknowledged or addressed.

Number Seven: Chief of the Armed Forces Zulkifeli Mohd Zin. He despatched ships from Lumut on the night MH370 disappeared. He then claimed that a C-130 plane was sent to scout the area the following morning.

What made Zulkifeli confident that he was scouring a potential crash site, thousands of kilometres from where Najib had directed others in the search and rescue (SAR) operations? Is Zulkifeli hiding something from us?

Number Eight: Chief of the RMAF Rodzali Daud. An unidentified plane was picked up by military radar around 200 nautical miles northwest of Penang in the Straits of Malacca, at about the time MH370 went missing. The military failed to act on this information, wasting both time and opportunity.

Number Nine: IGP Khalid Abu Bakar. When asked about the contradictory descriptions of the men using stolen passports, a dismissive Khalid said, “Why ask me? Ask Immigration, or ask Interpol.”

The defence minister asked everyone to avoid speculation, but Khalid said that his policemen were analysing all the speculation on the Internet to help in the MH370 investigations.

The IGP should focus on facts, rather than investigating speculation and rumour. He should chase criminals, rather than hound opposition politicians and NGOs.

Number Ten: Witch-doctor Ibrahim Mat Zain, or Raja Bomoh. This shaman heaped ridicule on the country when, at the entrance to KLIA, he used his bamboo binoculars and two coconuts to divine that MH370 had been hijacked by elves and the plane was either suspended in mid-air or had crashed into the sea. He should be jailed if he refuses to say who sent him to KLIA, to mock the suffering of the passengers and crew of MH370.

Bonus: It is reported that Najib’s favourite number is 11. When former PM Mahathir Mohamad resigned, he continued to make his presence felt by refusing to hand over the controls of the airship Malaysia, which he was flying to mediocrity. Mahathir completes the list by being the eleventh member of Malaysia’s Hall of Shame.

Hishammuddin should stop his “cat-and-mouse” game on whether there would be Parliamentary Select Committee on MH370 as such vacillation further erodes trust and confidence even among Malaysians in government handling of MH370 disaster as highlighted by latest opinion poll

By Lim Kit Siang,

The Acting Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein should stop his “cat-and-mouse” game of “yes, no, yes, no” on whether there would be Parliamentary Select Committee on the MH370 disaster as such vacillation further erodes trust and confidence even among Malaysians in the government handling of the MH370 disaster as highlighted by the latest opinion poll.

In an opinion poll commissioned by The Malaysian Insider and conducted by Merdeka Center in the last week of last month from March 24 to 30, 54% of the 1,092 respondents from all the parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia polled believed Putrajaya was not transparent in releasing information about Flight MH370 which vanished 38 days ago on March 8.

In response to the question whether they thought Putrajaya had been truthful or had been hiding anything about MH370, 54% of respondents felt Malaysia had been hiding information, 26% said the government had been truthful while 20% were unsure.

Chinese respondents were almost unanimous in giving the thumbs down to the BN federal government while the slight majority of Indian and Malay respondents, too, believed Putrajaya had been hiding information.

This time, respondents from both rural and urban areas were united in believing that Putrajaya has been less than forthcoming with information about MH370.

This second opinion poll shows that the level of trust and confidence even among Malaysians in government transparency and competence in the handling of the MHJ 370 disaster have progressively worsened since the beginning of the tragedy, as in a similar opinion survey in the first two weeks of the tragedy from March 8 to 20, 50% of Malaysians were unhappy with Putrajaya’s handling of the crisis. In other words, an increase from 50% unhappy with the government’s handling of the crisis in the first two weeks to 54 per cent in the third week.

The survey for the first two-weeks of the MH 370 disaster revealed that only 43% were satisfied with the way Putrajaya was dealing with the issue, which has fallen further to 26 per cent in the third week.

The survey in the first two weeks of the MH 370 disaster was done on 1,005 respondents – 60% Malay, 31% Chinese and 9% Indians.

Although the approval towards Putrajaya’s handling of MH 370 varies distinctly according to racial lines, the trust and confidence quotient among different race groups in the government’s handling have all worsened in the third week.

In the first two weeks of the disaster, the majority of Chinese and Indian respondents were dissatisfied, at 74% and 59% respectively. Only 18% of Chinese and 36% of Indian polled said they were satisfied.

But 63% of Malay respondents expressed satisfaction with the handling compared with 30% who said they were not.

By the third week, however, Chinese respondents were almost unanimous in giving the thumbs down to the BN federal government while the slight majority of Indian and Malay respondents, too, believed Putrajaya had been hiding information.

The continued fall in trust and confidence, among all racial groups in Malaysia, in the government’s handling of the MH 370 disaster is because of the endless drips and drabs of information being doled out; ever-lengthening list of clarifications, confusions and contradictions; frequent twists and turns and “flip-flops” and the vast “black holes” in information in the past 38 days of the MH370 disaster which not only aggravate the pain and anguish, but are most nerve-wracking for the families of the 239 passengers and crew on board, Malaysian and international well-wishers and completely confidence-sapping as well.

This is best illustrated by the five confusions, twists and turns and flip-flops in the past week, viz:

1. Did the RMAF scrambled planes to intercept MH370 in the early hours of March 8

CNN stood by its report on Thursday night (April 10) that the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) had scrambled its search aircraft on the morning of the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 737 at around 8 am, but did not inform authorities until three days later despite the denial by the Defence Minister, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein and the RMAF chief Rodzali Daud.

The RMAF denial lacks credibility as up to now, RMAF has not been able to come out with a coherent and credible account of what it had done in the initial hours to forestall or minimize the MH370 disaster.

2. No sense of guilt or remorse that Deputy Defence Minister had plunged Malaysian government and country into a greater international crisis of confidence with irresponsible and rubbishy statement in Parliament

On Thursday, the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, absolved the Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri of “misleading” Parliament when the latter told Parliament on March 26 that RMAF did not attempt to intercept MH370 when it was detected on military radar off the Straits of Malacca on March 8 as the RMAF had “assumed” that the plane was ordered to turn back by flight traffic controllers.

The next day, Rahim explained that his statement in Parliament was erroneous as he had personally made such an assumption.

There was no sense of guilt or remorse that the Deputy Defence Minister had plunged the Malaysian government and nation into a greater international crisis of confidence with such irresponsible and rubbishy pronouncement.

3. Co-pilot had made a telephone call when it was flying low near Penang?

Saturday (April 12) front-page headline report by UMNO newspaper New Straits Times that MH370 co-pilot Fariq Abdul Rahman had made a call from his mobile phone as the plane flew low near Penang, before it went missing.

Although Hishammuddin and the Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek who “checked with relevant parties” subsequently refuted the veracity of the New Straits Times report, the government’s handling of the MH 370 suffered another major blow, especially as NST is a UMNO-owned publication.

What’s worse, the NST report of a “mid-flight phone call” has given new life to various conspiracy theories, including the hijack theory which claims that Flight MH370 is in Afghanistan and that the 239 passengers and crew are all alive.

Is the Malaysian government giving credence to such conspiracy theories with the NST front-page report of the co-pilot’s “mid-flight phone call”?

4. UMNO mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia’s CIA conspiracy theory on MH370

Equally reprehensible as NST’s co-pilot “mid-flight phone call” story was Mingguan Malaysia’s endorsement of the conspiracy theory about US CIA involvement in MH 370’s disappearance in a bid to sour relations between Malaysia and China. (April 6).

What is shocking is that Hishammuddin, as the Malaysian supremo of the MH 370 SAR operation, took more than a week to refute the Utusan Malaysia as he made the denial only yesterday (April 13) after I had stressed at a media conference on Friday that he must either confirm or deny the Utusan write-up about CIA involvement in the disappearance of MH370.

Both New Straits Times and Utusan became overnight “celebrities” being the most quoted in the international media, but their media “notoriety” was achieved at the expense of further blows in the prolonged international crisis of confidence at the Malaysian handling of the MH370 disaster.

5. Hishammuddin’s “cat-and-mouse” game on RCI and PSC on MH 370

Yesterday, The Malaysian Insider in its report “Steam gathers for RCI as search for MH370 black boxes narrows” quoted Hishammuddin as saying after visiting the preparations for a defence exhibition at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur that Putrajay is close to setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on MH 370.

Reason? The increasingly positive signs that MH 370 “black boxes” will be found.

But all reports point to the contrary, as it is six days since the last strong ping from possibly MH 370’s black boxes have been detected, and all indications are that their battery power had expired and search for the black boxes will have to proceed despite the ping silence.

Hishammuddin has taken the position that the decision whether to set up a RCI or a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on MH 370 will only be made after the “black boxes” are retrieved.

This is a most unreasonable and unacceptable position – as does this mean that the government will oppose any independent, full-scale and comprehensive inquiry into the MH 370 disaster if the black boxes are not recovered?

Hishammuddin should stop his “cat-and-mouse” game on whether there would be a Parliamentary Select Committee on MH370 as such vacillation further erodes trust and confidence even among Malaysians in government handling of MH370 disaster as highlighted by latest opinion poll.

This is why I am calling on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to convene an emergency Parliament before May to establish a Parliamentary Select Committee on MH 370 disaster, where Hishammuddin as the supremo of the MH 370 SAR mission, should play no role in the MH 370 investigation process.

Lawyers: Cops sending wrong signal over Seremban abduction

Malay Mail
by Zurairi AR and Ida Lim

KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 — The police’s refusal to act against a Muslim convert for allegedly abducting his son despite a civil court granting the mother custody may encourage more such cases in the future, lawyers have said.

 

The legal practitioners said the inference was obvious after the police said it would not pursue Izwan Abdullah (previously N. Viran) who took his son by force from his estranged wife, claiming it could not act due to conflicting orders from the shariah and civil courts.

“At the end of the day, by saying they can’t do anything, are they giving a signal in future cases that people can take the law into their own hands and police will do nothing?” asked Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee co-chairman Andrew Khoo here.

“If that’s the case, that’s a serious indictment in abrogation of duties and responsibility to protect citizens from harm, from use of force.”

On Monday, the Seremban High Court granted S. Deepa, 30, full custody of her two children ― a nine-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son ― as her marriage to Izwan, 31, in 2004 was a civil union and did not come under shariah law.

Izwan allegedly snatched their son from outside her house in Jelebu, Negri Sembilan on Wednesday, based on a previous shariah court order that awarded him custody.

 

In her police report lodged over the incident, Deepa said Izwan sped off with the boy in a green Mitsubishi Pajero, and that she sustained injuries when she gave a chase as her clothes were caught in the car door.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar subsequently said that the police would not act against Izwan.

The Jelebu police also said it was unable to take action apart from probing him under the Domestic Violence Act and the Penal Code, for alleged violence and assault respectively against Deepa.

Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan said it was the norm for the police to refrain from acting when there are conflicting orders from Shariah and civil courts, but he stopped short of calling it a standard operating procedure.

“It fuels the perception, rightly or wrongly, that Muslims get preference by the authorities. And it gives a bad image to the religion,” Syahredzan told The Malay Mail Online.

In a series of tweet earlier, the lawyer also blamed the apparent police indifference on those who wish to see Islam trumping other faiths, even at the expense of justice.

“In your quest to establish the ‘supremacy’ of your religion, what you are in fact doing is turning people away from it,” said Syahredzan.

Constitutional lawyer Edmund Bon pointed to a bigger issue within the police force itself, saying the officers have taken the matter into their own hands without seeking legal advice.

“The IGP and police don’t quite understand law as they ought to … The IGP should have at least referred the matter to the Attorney-General for legal views and interpretation if he was unclear,” Bon claimed.

According to Bon, the IGP should have enforced the High Court’s order as the Shariah court’s order was not applicable to a non-Muslim, in this case Deepa, who is a Hindu.

While Khoo and Syahredzan acknowledged that the police were right to observe that there were two conflicting orders, they said the agency should still probe Izwan as the order still did not absolve him of forcibly seizing the boy.

“Remember, the custody order does not give the father blanket permission to forcefully take the child away. A lawful order does not permit unlawful behaviour to enforce that order,” Syahredzan said.

Khoo also criticised the IGP for claiming that no kidnapping has occurred and the police was confident of the safety of the child.

“Does he know that for a fact or is he making an assumption? Has any investigation been done to ascertain the child is safe? You simply cannot assume,” said Khoo.

Both civil and Shariah lawyers had since stressed that the Islamic court lacks jurisdiction over custody cases in a civil marriage even if one party later converts to Islam, citing the Federal Constitution’s Ninth Schedule.

While Deepa’s legal team will now file contempt proceedings against Izwan next week, Bon claimed that the IGP himself could also be cited for contempt of court by his inaction.

Deepa has since gone into hiding, fearful that her husband may be emboldened to try and take their daughter following the IGP’s declaration on Friday that the police will not act against him over the abduction.

It is understood that Viran, a former lorry driver who currently works for an Islamic NGO called Yayasan Kasih Sayang, had converted both their children in April last year without Deepa’s consent.

Deepa, who filed for divorce and custody of the children in December last year, has been estranged from her husband since 2011.

The case is another in a series of inter-faith custody battles that highlight the complexities of Malaysia’s parallel civil and Shariah legal systems.

Malaysia Has Given Its All To Locate Missing Plane - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia has given its all to find Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 missing since March 8, and drawn solace from the assistance granted to the country from around the world.

"We have shared, and received military radar data, putting the search above national security," the prime minister noted when addressing the Putrajaya Forum 2014 here today.

The search, he said, led to assets from dozens of countries being combined and deployed in a truly global effort.

"Over the course of the past month, we have seen Chinese ships entering Vietnamese waters to search for the plane," he said, citing an example of the level of co-operation seen during the search operation.

Najib said these challenges were tackled with assistance from Malaysia's friends in Asean, and depended on relationships forged outside of formal Asean structures.

"Alongside strengthening Asean, our task is also to embrace wider collaboration on security," he said at the forum which carried the theme 'Strengthening Security and Regional Stability'.

It was organised in conjunction with the 14th Defence Services Asia (DSA) Exhibition and Conference from today until April 17.

Flight MH370 with 239 people aboard left the KL International Airport at 12.41 am and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later, while over the South China Sea. It was to have arrived in Beijing at 6.30 am on the same day.

A multinational search was mounted for the aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then in the Melaka Strait and Andaman Sea, and now in the southern Indian Ocean.

Analysis of satellite data indicated that the plane flew along what is called the 'southern corridor' and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

Najib announced on March 24, seventeen days after the disappearance of the aircraft, that Flight MH370 "ended in the southern Indian Ocean".

Hisham: No phone call made by co-pilot Fariq

A house divided will not stand

By David Anthony

Custody of a six-year-old child is violently disputed between both parents. This is a tragic trauma that is going to leave a lifelong scar on the psyche of the child. This child will grow up either as a fighter of the system or a total misfit in society. The latter is more likely because society has allowed this dual system to put down its roots and fester within the social fabric of our country that flies the flag of 1Malaysia.

The existence of two systems of judicial structure deconstructs all efforts at building a united nation. This tug-of-war between the civil court and the syariah court has handcuffed the police.

When the police stand by and watch the unfolding of injustice being played out and not intervene, they are not only washing their hands of their duty to society but are also blameworthy if any chaos or violence breaks out. It is too late to intervene then.

Religion, particularly in this country is divisive. It preaches good values only to its own flock. I am always holier than thou. History has shown no end to religious wars and genocide and we fail to learn the lesson. In the name of God, by whatever name it is called, the human race tears itself apart. I seriously doubt that religion has done more good than harm?

Religion in this country and for this country, whether one agrees or not, is not a blessing but a curse.

The second curse in this country is the racial divide. We cannot escape from the ethnicity we are born with, but we can rise above it. If we see beyond skin colour, we can value the person in the individual and relate as persons. We can do that and we do do that but these two devils of race and religion come in between. Then they enter the arena of politics where both these devils are pitted one against the other for political profit.

The 1Malaysia slogan is a façade behind which the propagators become the perpetrators of divide and rule. Malaysia will never be one so long as religion and race keeps dividing us and so long as two divergent legal systems exist.

Unity minister wants Izwan to heed civil court ruling

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Joseph Kurup says the Muslim convert accused of kidnapping his son must abide by the Seremban High Court's decision, granting child custody to his Hindu ex-wife.

 

Kurup, the de facto unity minister, said if Izwan Abdullah was upset with the court decision, he should instead seek a remedy in accordance to the proper procedures.

 

"The High Court's decision must be obeyed, if the father want custody he should go back to the High Court according to the procedures set out the the civil courts," he told journalists in Kuala Lumpur today.

 

The mother S Deepa alleged her ex-husband had assaulted her and kidnapped their son two days after the Seremban High Court on April 7 granted her custody of her son and daughter, aged six and nine respectively.

 

The tussle was controversial as Izwan, whose original name was N Viran, had converted to Islam along with his children and obtained custody through the syariah court.

 

The incident became the centre of attention after the Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar refused to act against Izwan, citing the conflicting decisions by the civil and syariah court and urged them to "talk it out".

 

Contempt of court

 

Kurup said if the matter was settled according to legal procedures, then the conflicting decisions between the civil and syariah court does not arise as it can be resolved in a proper manner.

 

He also urged Deepa to take legal action against her ex-husband after he took away her son despite the Seremban High Court decision.

 

"I hope the mother can take action for contempt of court (against Izwan)," he said.

 

Kurup added he hope Deepa will also take action against Izwan for converting their children without her knowledge and consent.

 

"This is the legal requirement, any question of changing faith (of underage children) should receive the consent from both parents but in this case it was not done.

 

"That is why the High Court took action and it required initiative from the mother," he said.

 

Seremban High Court Judge Zabariah Mohd Yusof had granted custody of the children to S Deepa but said any move to dispute the children's conversion to Islam by the father had to be done in a separate court.

 

Deepa had said she will challenge the conversion while Izwan had justified his action of taking away their son as an attempt to protect the boy's faith.
 

Missing plane MH370: Abbott says signal 'rapidly fading'

Prime Minister Abbott said officials want to narrow the search area before deploying a submersible drone

Signals in remote seas thought to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are "rapidly fading" and finding the jet will be a "massive, massive task", Australia's PM says.

Tony Abbott said he was confident "pings" detected by search teams were from the aircraft's black boxes.

But no new signals have been confirmed in the search area since Tuesday.

"No one should underestimate the difficulties of the task still ahead of us," Mr Abbott warned.

Up to 10 planes and 14 ships were searching the area in the Indian Ocean on Saturday

A woman shows a photo of her father, who was on board. MH370 was carrying 239 people when it vanished

 

Correspondents say Mr Abbott appeared to be couching his comments from Friday, in which he said he was "very confident" that signals heard by an Australian search ship were from the missing Boeing 777.

Speaking during a visit to China, Australia's leader said teams were hoping to track further signals in a section of the southern Indian Ocean before shifting the search operation to the seabed.

"Trying to locate anything 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) beneath the surface of the ocean, about a 1,000km (620 miles) from land is a massive, massive task," he said.

"Given that the signal from the black box is rapidly fading, what we are now doing is trying to get as many detections as we can so that we can narrow the search area down to as small an area as possible."

Mr Abbott said a submersible drone would be sent to conduct a sonar search of the seabed once search teams were confident with the area identified - but he refused to say when that might be.

After analysing satellite data, officials believe the plane with 239 people aboard flew off course for an unknown reason and went down in the southern Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia.

Those leading the search fear that time is running out because the batteries that power the pings from the black box only last about a month, and that window has already passed.

Chinese planes assisting in the search are operating out of Australian airports

Despite the technology at the search teams' disposal, the naked eye is also crucial in the hunt for wreckage

 

Two sounds heard a week ago by the Australian ship Ocean Shield, towing the ping locator, were determined to be consistent with the signals emitted from the black boxes. Two more pings were detected in the same general area on Tuesday.

On Thursday an Australian aircraft picked up an audio signal in the same area as the four previous detections but officials now believe it is unlikely to be related to the black boxes

The underwater search zone is currently a 1,300 sq km (500 miles) patch of the seabed, about the size of Los Angeles.

The submersible drone, Bluefin 21, takes six times longer to cover the same area as the ping locator and it would take about six weeks to two months for it to search the current zone.

Complicating matters is the depth of the seabed in that area. The signals are emanating from 4,500m (15,000 ft) below the surface, which is the deepest the Bluefin can dive. The search coordination centre said it was considering options in case a deeper-diving sub was needed.

Faltering search

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March when it lost contact with air traffic controllers and vanished from radar.

Of the 239 people on board, 153 were Chinese. Many relatives have been angered by what they perceive to be the Malaysian authorities' early misguided response to the flight's disappearance.

The plane disappeared over the South China Sea, between Malaysia and Vietnam, but it was a week before the search was widened based on evidence taken from radar and satellite tracking.

Officials are still no clearer as to why the plane strayed so far off course.

The backgrounds of both passengers and crew have been scrutinised as officials consider hijacking, sabotage, pilot action or mechanical failure as possible causes.

MH370 Tragedy Shows Strong Bilateralism, Regionalism At Work - Hishammuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 (Bernama) -- The MH370 tragedy has tested the mechanisms of bilateralism and regionalism, and they have not been found wanting, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

Opening the Defence Services Asia Exhibition and Conference (DSA) 2014 here tonight, he said incidents like the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines aircraft served as a reminder about the fragility of life and the need to value the ties between nations.

"Through our anguish, one thing is clear: the world is a community, and we are its citizens," Hishammuddin, who is acting transport minister, said.

In this connection, he said Malaysia felt that the need for increased strategic inter-government collaboration has never been more pressing in today's global, hyperconnected security landscape.

The minister noted that although it was too early to be talking about lessons learnt from the MH370 episode, two things were clear.

"We should always be prepared to face any threat which may come anytime in any shape or size," Hishammuddin said.

Leadership in the defence industry needed to be steered into a mindset to never be again caught off guard against any eventuality or circumstance.

Pointing out that no nation coud do this alone, he said: "As much as governments all around the world would like to devote resources to building up defence capabilities, there is a need to balance this agenda with other domestic priorities."

Hishammuddin said this was where it was important to cultivate good ties on both the defence and diplomatic tracks with other nations.

Flight MH370 with 239 people aboard vanished from civilian radar screens about an hour into its Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight on March 8, prompting a multinational search that is now focused on the southern Indian Ocean, in waters off the Australian city of Perth.

Coming back to DSA 2014, Hishammuddin described it as a premier platform designed to enhance bilateral relations and promote a higher level of commitment towards global defence.

Noting that Malaysia's chairmanship of Asean in 2015 would coincide with the advent of the Asean Economic Community, he said this was something not to be taken lightly.

Malaysia, he said, believed strongly in a people-centric Asean whose initiatives - whether social, cultural, economic or defence and security - would be inclusive.

"We want an Asean that places Southeast Asia's inherent diversity of cultures and people at its core."

Hishammuddin highlighted the setting up, for the first time, of the Asean Hall within DSA.

Saying that this was a Malaysian initiative, he expressed hope that "this small gesture" would mark the continuing and strengthening of cooperation between Asean countries.

Billed as Asia's largest defence exhibition, DSA 2014 runs from tomorrow until Thursday at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).

Family wants answers over death in prison

The family of N Harirajan's want answers after the 34-year-old was found dead in Kajang Prison.

PKR legal bureau deputy chief S Jayathas who took up the matter for the family said they were informed on Thursday by prison authorities that Harirajan had died of AIDS.

However, Jayathas said the condition of Harirajan's body raised suspicion for his family when they saw his body at Kajang Hospital.

When the family saw the body, they were shocked to see bruises at the chest, head, stitches above the right eye and both ears (were) bleeding," he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Jayathas (left) said the family were asked to sign the release forms to claim the body.

Harirajan's brother, N Harikrishnan, 31, refused to sign the documents, insisting on a post-mortem to determine the cause of death, said Jayathas.

Harikrishnan had since also lodged a police report at the Kajang district police headquarters.

Jayathas said a post-mortem was subsequently conducted the following day but the report had yet to be available.

"The deceased family requested the pathologist for the post-mortem report which he refused to give and the family refused to take the body until they get the post-mortem report.

However, Jayathas said the family was promised that the post-mortem report will be presented to them tomorrow, which they hope will provide them closure.

Death in custody, JAKIM wants body

Pinda undang-undang, bolehkan bukan Islam hadir ke Mahkamah Syariah, kata peguam Islam

Persatuan Peguam Muslim Malaysia (PPMM) menggesa agar kerajaan meminda undang-undang bagi membolehkan individu bukan Islam dibenarkan menghadiri sesi perbicaraan di Mahkamah Syariah bagi menuntut keadilan.

Presiden PPMM, Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar ketika mengulas berhubung isu hak penjagaan anak beragama Islam oleh ibu beragama Hindu berkata, terdapat pertindihan perintah antara Mahkamah Syariah dan Mahkamah Sivil dalam isu yang berlaku di Seremban itu.

"PPMM menyeru agar undang-undang dipinda bagi membolehkan orang bukan Islam dibenarkan hadir ke mahkamah syariah bagi menuntut keadilan kerana keadilan Islam adalah bersifat sejagat," katanya.

"Negara Brunei Darussalam contohnya hanya mensyaratkan sekurang-kurangnya satu pihak beragama Islam sahaja bagi menghadiri prosiding di mahkamah syariahnya," tambah Zainul Rijal dalam kenyataan di Kuala Lumpur.

Kerani dari Seremban, S Deepa sebelum ini menerima hak penjagaan dua anaknya oleh Mahkamah Tinggi, sekaligus mengenepikan keputusan Mahkamah Syariah Seremban yang sebelum itu memberikan hak penjagaan kepada bapa mereka yang memeluk Islam.

N Viran, yang menukar nama kepada Izwan Abdullah bagaimanapun melarikan anak mereka, Mithan, 6, sehari selepas keputusan berkenaan dibuat Mahkamah Tinggi.

"Berilah peluang kepada kedua belah pihak menyelesaikan pertikaian mereka di mahkamah dan pihak yang tidak berkenaan tidak perlu beremosi di dalam menghadi kemelut sebegini," kata Zainul Rijal.

Beliau berkata lagi, oleh kerana hal ini berkaitan kekeluargaan, adalah tidak molek pihak berkuasa menggunakan tindakan undang-undang termasuk mendakwa Izwan atas apa jua tuduhan.

"Terdapat pelbagai penghakiman mahkamah tertinggi negara yang memutuskan isu-isu sebegini yang boleh dijadikan rujukan," katanya.

Beliau berkata, isu agama anak tidak diputuskan di dalam penghakiman yang diberikan oleh Mahkamah Tinggi Seremban, tetapi suatu fatwa telahpun dikeluarkan oleh Mufti kerajaan Negeri Sembilan berhubung keislaman anak-anak tersebut.

"Izwan tidak boleh dikenakan dakwaan menghina mahkamah kerana beliau mempunyai perintah hak jagaan yang sah dikeluarkan oleh Mahkamah Syariah Seremban.

"Perintah tersebut berkuatkuasa sehinggalah ianya dibatalkan," katanya .

Viran, bekerja sebagai pemandu lori meninggalkan Deepa dan anak-anaknya tiga tahun lalu dan memeluk Islam menggunakan nama Izwan.

Deepa kemudian mendapati anak-anaknya, Sharmila (Nurul Nabila) 9, dan Mithran (Nabil), 6, diislamkan tanpa pengetahuannya pada April.

Selepas Mahkamah Tinggi memberikan hak penjagaan kepadanya pada Isnin, Izwan bagaimanapun pada Rabu pergi ke rumah Deepa di Jelebu dan merampas anak lelaki mereka.

Deepa berkata kepada polis beliau gagal menghalangnya kerana pakaiannya tersangkut pada pintu kereta dan diseret.

Malah, beliau turut mendakwa bekas suaminya turut menendangnya.

Polis bagaimanapun, berkata mereka tidak akan bertindak terhadap laporan terbaru Deepa kerana dua mahkamah memberikan hak penjagaan kanak-kanak terhadap ibu dan bapa mereka.

Zainul Rijal berkata, sebagai seorang mualaf yang terdahulunya berkahwin secara sivil melalui Akta Membaharui Undang-Undang (Perkahwinan Dan Perceraian) 1976 Izwan tidak diberikan hak melalui Seksyen 51 Akta tersebut untuk membubarkan perkahwinan sivilnya.

Oleh yang demikian, beliau melaksanakannya di bawah Enakmen Undang Undang Keluarga Islam (Negeri Sembilan) 2003.

Suruhanjaya Ong yang menggubal Akta Membaharui Undang-Undang, khususnya Seksyen 51 tersebut berprasangka buruk terhadap mualaf yang memeluk Islam sehingga 'menghukum' mualaf tersebut tidak mempunyai hak memfailkan perceraian berbanding pasangan yang tidak memeluk Islam.

"Sebagai seorang yang menganut agama Islam, Izwan tertakluk kepada perintah Mahkamah Syariah dan mempunyai obligasi menjaga maqasid al shariah termasuklah hifz al deen (menjaga agama)," katanya. – 12 April, 2014.

US denies MH370 landed at Diego Garcia military base in Indian Ocean, says report

The United States today has refuted rumours that missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 could have landed at its military base on the remote island of Diego Garcia, the Daily Mirror reported.

The English daily quoted a spokesman for the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur as saying that there was no truth to this speculation.

"There is no indication that flight MH370 flew anywhere near the Maldives or Diego Garcia," Daily Mirror quoted the spokesman who told The Star in an email.

"Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 did not land in Diego Garcia," he said.

The Daily Mirror reported that there had been rumours circulating that MH370 could have headed for the small coral atoll in the Indian Ocean after going off-course.

Flight MH370 departed from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8 bound for Beijing.

The aircraft, carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers, dropped off the radar at 1.20am and has not been located since.

More than 20 nations are involved in the biggest search and rescue operation ever to locate the missing aircraft, believed to have gone down in the southern Indian Ocean, off Western Australia.

Earlier today, New Straits Times reported that Fariq Abdul Hamid, the co-pilot of missing flight MH370, attempted to make a phone call from his mobile phone while the aircraft was flying over Penang.

In an exclusive, the daily reported that Fariq's attempt ended abruptly as MH370 was flying away from the telecommunications tower.

This is the latest breakthrough in the ongoing criminal investigation as police traced the source of the call to Fariq's mobile phone.

According to NST’s report, the aircraft was flying at an altitude low enough for the nearest telecommunications tower to pick up Fariq's phone signal.

However, it has not been ascertained who he was attempting to call, as sources declined to divulge the information, the daily reported.

The daily also reported that Fariq's last communication was through the WhatsApp messenger application at 11.30pm on March 7, just before he boarded Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 for the journey to Beijing.

"Checks on Fariq's phone history showed that the last person he spoke to was one of his regular contacts (a number that frequently appears on his outgoing phone logs).

"This call was made no more than two hours before the flight took off at 12.41am from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport," NST reported.

Although investigations have been ongoing since March 8, police have not cleared either the crew members or the passengers. – April 12, 2014.

IGP blasted for inaction on civil court decision

 

The inspector general of police (IGP) has been widely blasted for claiming the police are bound by both civil and syariah law when responding to the abduction of the child in S Deepa's custody case.

Yesterday IGP Khalid Abu Bakar said they were not investigating the case as "there are two court orders, one civil and syariah court" and that "both are binding".

Malaysian Indians Progressive Association (Mipas) secretary general S Barathidasan (right) slammed Khalid asking, "Which one is the supreme court of Malaysia, the civil court or the syariah court?

"The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) has not set up a special squad yet to deal with syariah offences. So now the PDRM follows which orders, the civil or the syariah?"

Barathidasan said he was "truly shocked" by the IGP's statement.

"Would Khalid do the same if the (situation) was reversed andthe kidnap was by a Hindu mother?"

On Monday the High Court awarded Deepa custody of her two children, overruling a Syariah Court decision obtained last year by her ex-husband who had converted to Islam the same year

Justice Zabariah Mohd Yusof ruled this as her marriage to N Viran @ Izwan Abdullah was based on civil law.

Two days after her victory, her husband reportedly abducted their son and allegedly kicked her as she was trying to stop him driving away.

Two ex-law ministers: IGP wrong

Meanwhile according to The Star today, two former law ministers Nazri Abdul Aziz and Zaid Ibrahim have also flayed the IGP for his statement.

Nazri pointed out that Deepa's marriage is a civil matter and that "the High Court judge’s ruling was correct".

"The police shouldn’t allow him to get away with kidnapping the child,” he was reported saying.

Presently the tourism and culture minister, Nazri added the matter was "a clear-cut case of kidnapping".

“This isn’t a question of Izwan Abdullah being right under Syariah law.

“It is a civil law marriage, it is the civil court, we must respect the civil court’s ruling. They have the jurisdiction," he was reported saying.

He added that conversion to Islam should not be used as a "tool to escape marriage responsibilities".

The same report quoted Zaid saying, “To say they (the police) respect both court orders and therefore will do nothing is irresponsible, and this leaves a negative perception of them."

He said Khalid should have contacted the attorney-general or the prime minister on the matter.

The Attorney-General (AG) Abdul Gani Patail meanwhile was reported saying he will not comment until the police's investigations is referred to his Chambers.

Are police Muslims first?

Barathidasan further flayed Khalid (below) for taking sides when it came to interreligious matters.

"Is the police only for Muslims first? Mipas urges the PDRM to be more professional, efficient and world-class without any political influence," he said.

He pointed out that the police have yet to question Izwan for the abduction, and have failed to act on the father's contempt of court.

"Mipas is wondering why none of Hindus in PDRM, A Thaiveegan, A Paramasivam and many other highest ranked police officers are keeping silent on this serious issue," he added.

He said this case should not have happened in the first place, and called for the necessary laws to be amended "to spell out that the consent of both parents are needed to convert the children, and that when a spouse converts, the (other spouse) must be notified about the conversion and its legal implications" among others.

Barathidasan said the IGP is "misleading the public" and also demanded the PDRM and government "immediately stop protecting and encouraging pro-government lobbyists that are backing Izwan.

Masyarakat India marah FB 1 juta sokong Shabery Cheek

Gambar yang dimuat naik pada 10 April itu telah dikongsi seramai 121 pengguna Facebook lain dan mendapat 32 ‘Like’

PETALING JAYA: Posting yang dikeluarkan oleh laman Facebook ‘1 Juta Rakyat Malaysia Menyokong Shabery Cheek’ telah menaikkan kemarahan dan kekecewaan masyarakat India di Malaysia lantas dapat memusnahkan keharmonian masyarakat Malaysia.

Page tersebut telah memuat naik gambar masyarakat India yang berpusu-pusu mencium kaki dengan menulis kapsyen “Festival cium tapak kaki tuhan boroi peneguk todi ….hairanlah, kenapa puak-puak India ni sanggup habiskan masa dan wang semata-mata mahu menyembah tuhan yg tidak wujud ini ? kaki siap pakai inai. Hahahahahahah . Keling bodoh !!!!!!”.

Gambar yang dimuat naik pada 10 April itu telah dikongsi seramai 121 pengguna Facebook lain, dan mendapat telah sebanyak 32 ‘Like’.

Salah seorang pengguna Facebook, Mazlan Harun membantah posting yang dikeluarkan oleh pengendali halaman ‘1 Juta Rakyat Malaysia Menyokong Shabery Cheek’ dengan menulis komen “apa la!!!! admin ni ! tidak baik kutuk-kutuk agama orang! Nanti diri sendiri yangg dapat musibah!”

Bagi pengguna Facebook Munirah Murad pula, beliau membantah kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh pengendali halaman tersebut dan menyifatkan tindakan tersebut cuba memainkan sentimen menghina kaum lain dengan membalas kenyataan “Kau kenapa admin? itu agama masing-masing, ikut diaorang lah.. kau ni agama apa ya?? Atau saja nak memecah belahkan kaum ni?”

Malah, Dineshwary Dinesh yang juga merupakan pengguna Facebook berbangsa India turut tidak bersetuju, “Kau orang boleh sembahyang, kita orang tidak boleh sembayang ikut adat kita ke? siapa keling bodoh kalau berani cakap depan kaum kita, tengok diri sendiri dulu, ini nak sebuk pasal orang lain pulak…”

Manakala bagi pengguna Facebook Raj Kumar Subramanian, beliau membantah perkara tersebut dengan menulis komen, “ Deyyyy…. bila masa laa Malaysia boleh satu hati….. biar kerajaan berpecah belah.. janganlah kita….. kalau ada lagi orang macam lu…. habis laaa Malaysia…”

Bagi Prem Prabha, beliau menyifatkan admin page tersebut sebagai individu yang tidak bijak dan seorang yang rasis.

“Bodoh punya pengendali halaman 1 Juta Rakyat Malaysia Menyokong Shabery Cheek, jangan malukan Islam! sebab orang bodoh macam kau orang lain pandang rendah pada agama Islam, ‘sorry to say my Malay friends’, saya hairan ada lagi orang rasis macam ini dalam dunia moden ini dan saya ada ramai kawan-kawan melayu dan kawan kawan-kawan Islam dari Yemen dan Somalia, saya memang respect kawan-kawan saya dan kawan-kawan saya semua yang selalu sembayang lima waktu dan yang betul-betul mwngikut ajaran Islam. Memang jauh berbeza admin ‘page’ ini dengan kawan-kawan saya. Kepada admin page ini, ‘you are fail as a muslim’. Your god is watching you. Tuhan itu adil, kamu pasti akan terima balasan daripada tuhan kamu,”