Minor Dalit girl gang-raped, murdered in Alwar

ALWAR: A 17-year-old dalit girl was gangraped and brutally murdered in Sadar police station area of Alwar district on Wednesday night. The girl was stragulated by at least four men who have been arrested. The accused had dumped her body on railway tracks after murder.

Police said the victim, a resident of Jatiyana village, had gone out with her cousin in the evening and was returning home when she was intercepted by a person wearing a 'burqa' (veil). "The woman told her that she was scared of something and requested her to accompany her to her house. She told the girl that the house was nearby," a police officer said.

The officer said that the victim sent her cousin home and accompanied the woman. "During the interrogation of the four men, who have been arrested for the crime, it came up that one of them had pretended to be a woman. Soon after the girl started accompanying him, three others came there," said the officer.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-22/jaipur/29802831_1_girl-police-officer-alwar

American view of Malaysia outdated

COMMENT (Malaysiakini)A Malaysian recently wrote to me, "Most Americans don't know or even care where Malaysia is."

Even among the so-called foreign policy elite, little attention is paid to Malaysia. There are few American academics who specialise in domestic Malaysian politics, and except for hosting visits by senior Malaysian leaders, think-tanks and universities hold few Malaysia-themed programmes.

US newspaper and magazine reports are few, with most articles focusing on tourism and the delights of Malaysian cuisine. As a result, there is a tendency among Americans to hold an idealised (and outdated) image of Malaysia as a successful multi-racial and multi-religious paradise, an Asian economic dynamo, and a stable and moderate Muslim democracy.

As a result of this deficit of informed analysis of Malaysia, there has been a failure to notice the internal political and economic changes unfolding within Malaysia over the past few years.

The reality today, as one Australian expert puts it, is that the situation is the "most fluid and dangerous" in Malaysia's history.

A date for the history books

Because of this attention shortfall, the events of July 9 came as a surprise. On that day, tens of thousands of Malaysians - who have been ranked on Hofstede's Power Distance Index as the most submissive to authority of any people in the world - chose to defy their government and join a 'Walk for Democracy'.

They heeded the call of Bersih 2.0, a coalition of 62 non-governmental organisations that calls for free and fair elections. In the days before the rally, the Malaysian government cracked down. It rounded up 200 leaders associated with the movement, claiming that they were "waging war against the king" and planning to overthrow the government.

It declared both the Bersih coalition and the planned rally illegal, and in a truly bizarre action, it declared the colour yellow - Bersih's signature colour - illegal.

Malaysian citizens were arrested for possessing Bersih literature or wearing yellow T-shirts. The police established roadblocks around the city and banned 91 Bersih and opposition leaders from entering Kuala Lumpur. By the morning of July 9, the city was in total lockdown.

Then something remarkable happened. As Ambiga Sreenevasan, the distinguished lawyer who leads Bersih put it, the Malaysian people showed that they no longer would be intimidated by their government. They chose to march, knowing that they would be met by tear gas, chemical-laced water cannon and police batons.

Even after Bersih's leadership was arrested, Malaysians of all ages, races and religions continued their 'Walk for Democracy' through the streets of Kuala Lumpur. They locked arms, they sang their national anthem, they blew bubbles and carried flowers.

They were peaceful. The only muscle seen that day was the heavy hand of the police. Human Rights Watch later called the use of force excessive, the 1,670 arrests unwarranted, and the police attacks on marchers unprovoked.

This repression by Prime Minister Najib Razak and his government drew international condemnation, and it also put a lie to Najib's two-year effort to portray himself as a modern, liberal-minded leader.

More importantly, and of greater concern to Najib and his Umno party - the main party that has ruled Malaysia continuously since independence in 1957 - is that it awakened a new generation of Malaysians.

It is too soon to know whether the movement for electoral reform and the establishment of true democracy in Malaysia will be sustained. If it is, then July 9 will be remembered as a turning point in Malaysia's history.

A flawed democracy

Why should a government be so afraid of a call for fair elections? Like his predecessors, Najib claims that demonstrations will lead to chaos, even though the right of assembly is guaranteed by the nation's constitution and is commonplace in any true democracy.

As for free and fair elections, Najib says that Malaysia already has them; if not, then opposition parties would not have achieved the gains they made in the 2008 elections, when they received 47 percent of the popular vote and took control of five states. Opposition parties counter that if elections truly were fair and free, they would form the government and not the Umno-led coalition.

Political rhetoric aside, Malaysia's electoral system has been analysed by academics in Australia, Malaysia, the United States, and elsewhere. In addition, the state of Malaysia's political freedom has been assessed by many international groups.

The Economist Intelligence Unit, for example, labels Malaysia a "flawed democracy" in its Democracy Index. Freedom House says that Malaysia is only "partly free". Reporters Without Borders places Malaysia 141st out of the 178 countries in its Press Freedom Index.

On elections, the US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices declares that Malaysian opposition parties are unable to compete on equal terms with the governing Umno-dominated coalition because of restrictions on campaigning and freedom of assembly and association.

"News of the opposition," the report says, is "tightly restricted and reported in a biased fashion."

Academics point to the Election Commission's gerrymandering, which creates highly imbalanced constituencies that favour the ruling party, where the number of voters per seat can range from 7,000 to over 100,000.

Over the years, there have been numerous credible reports of the use of phantom voters, stuffed ballot boxes, vote-buying, and abuse of government resources to attract votes.

In Sarawak's state elections this past April, Najib was caught on video, blatantly telling a village gathering that his government would give them US$1.5 million for a local project, but only if they elected his candidate.

Lukewarm response
Malaysia's government may assert otherwise, but the evidence is overwhelmingly on Bersih's side. Malaysia is not a full democracy, and its elections are neither free nor fair.

Malaysian citizens have awakened to that fact. Now the world's democracies need to stand on the right side of Malaysia's future.

The United States has a multitude of interests in Malaysia, one of which is to help strengthen democracy and the rule of law.

Human rights groups have condemned what they call the US government's "lukewarm" response to the events of July 9. This is a moment when the United States, which named Bersih's leader Ambiga an International Woman of Courage in 2009, can show the same courage and make a difference in the life of a nation.

JOHN R MALOTT was the US Ambassador to Malaysia, 1995-1998, and continues to follow developments in that country closely.

The above appeared in Asia Pacific Bulletin (APB) series, published by the East-West Center, which promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue.

Utusan defends MACC, holds DAP responsible for Teoh’s death

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Utusan Malaysia expressed sympathy for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for bearing the brunt of the blame for Teoh Beng Hock’s death, saying today it was DAP and its adviser Lim Kit Siang who should be held responsible.

The Umno-owned daily’s editors, writing under the pseudonym Awang Selamat, accused the opposition party of tricking Malaysians into forgetting the corruption allegation against its leaders by drawing focus to Teoh’s death.

“Malaysians have been dragged too deep into this issue (Teoh’s death) until we have strayed from the actual path. The real issue — corruption — has been buried.

“This is DAP’s success... all this time, their actual intention is to hide the many shortcomings of its leaders in this case,” Awang said in Mingguan Malaysia, the Malay daily’s Sunday paper.

Awang added that if the just-released Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on Teoh’s death is studied carefully, it could be surmised that there were elements of cronyism, corruption and financial manipulation in the case.

As such, Awang said that DAP should be held responsible for Teoh’s death as through his death, the youth had helped the party save its image from being further tarnished.

“Awang agrees with the view from several parties that DAP should be held responsible. Its key leader Lim Kit Siang should apologise to all Malaysians, the government, the MACC and Teoh’s family.

“Awang hope that no one will question the cause of Teoh’s death again, or even worse, continue to use it as a political tool,” he wrote.

Awang also urged MACC officers not to lose morale in their jobs and encouraging them to proceed with their “noble roles”.

“There is no need to be shaky if there are contents in the report that seem unpleasant and do not reflect reality.

“Awang understands that the interrogation process is not easy,” he said.

The RCI report, which was released on Thursday, ruled that the former DAP aide had committed suicide as a result of “aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation” by MACC officers, particularly the then deputy director for Selangor MACC Hishammuddin Hashim and enforcement officers Arman Alies and Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus.

The officers, described in the RCI as “Arman the bully, Ashraf the abuser and HH the arrogant leader”, had wanted to pressure Teoh into becoming a witness in their case against his boss, Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, for alleged abuse of public funds.

The RCI had also found fault with the MACC’s techniques, saying that the graft officers on Teoh’s case were not only brutal during interrogation but also had poor interview skills and viewed witnesses and suspects as “the enemy”.

Despite this, Utusan Malaysia came to MACC’s defence today, saying that “one or two incidents” do not reflect the the weakness or failure of the entire commission.

“Awang hopes the morale of the MACC officers and workers will not be affected by this. Furthermore, MACC’s decision to suspend the three officers proves that it is open-minded,” the paper’s editors wrote.

The MACC announced yesterday the suspension of the three officers named in the RCI report, pending an internal probe on the royal panel’s findings.

Refugee deal ignores Malaysia’s record

Refugees are real people with real needs. They should not be treated like a political football to be kicked around.

By Eric Paulsen

In May, Australia and Malaysia announced an agreement to transfer up to 800 asylum seekers in Australia to Malaysia while their asylum claims are processed by the United Nations’ refugee agency, the UNHCR.

The announcement declared, among others, that the “transferees will not receive any preferential treatment over asylum seekers already in Malaysia.” In return, Australia will resettle 4,000 refugees currently residing in Malaysia over a period of four years.

While Australia’s agreement to accept more refugees for resettlement is commendable, the plan to illegally and forcefully deport asylum seekers and “outsource” its international human rights obligations to a country like Malaysia is shocking and irresponsible to say the least.

Let there be no doubt: Malaysia has a horrendous track record — infamous for its brutal treatment of refugees and other undocumented migrants and consistently ranked as one of the world’s worst places to be a refugee.

Registration with the UNHCR only affords them a small measure of protection as the Malaysian government does not generally recognize refugees but instead treats them like any other “illegal” migrant present in the country.

They are thus subjected to the same harsh immigration laws and policies that include arrest, detention, prosecution, fine, jail, whipping and deportation.

Malaysia is not a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention (to which 144 countries have signed up, including Australia) and in the absence of a national legal and administrative framework for the protection of refugees, this transfer deal will certainly violate the rights of the refugees, including the right not to be forcefully deported; the right to life, liberty and security of the person; and the right to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Without government documentation, refugees in Malaysia are unable to work legally and live in perpetual fear of raids, arrest, harassment and extortion by the police, Rela (the Home Ministry’s civil volunteer corps) and the immigration authorities.

Consequently, they live in the margins of society, working “illegally” when they can find work, constantly in hiding, living in poverty with no access to social services including health care and education for their children. They have to scrape together whatever they can find, living day-to-day in order to feed, clothe and shelter themselves and their families.

When arrested, irrespective of whether they are men, women or children, they will be taken away from their families and friends and detained at Malaysia’s infamous detention centers for several months, sometimes even years, before being charged, jailed, whipped (men only) and deported, mainly to the Thai border.

The abuse doesn’t stop there as the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee found in a report several years ago — because some of the deportees are then sold at the border into slavery to human traffickers.
Typically, immigration detention conditions are deplorable and inhumane. Those detained face severe overcrowding, sweltering heat, no bedding, poor hygiene and sanitation, insufficient and poor quality food, and irregular access to clean water and medical treatment.

The conditions fall far short of minimum international standards for places of detention. Serious abuse by detention center staff is also common, including arbitrary beatings. Poor detention conditions have led to serious illness and in some instances, death.

Dying in detention

In May 2009, two Burmese detainees died in a detention center due to leptospirosis, an infectious disease caused by water or food contaminated with animal urine. In September 2009, another six Burmese detainees in another center died of the same disease.

These should not be read as isolated incidents as detention death is an everyday reality. According to the Malaysian Human Rights Commission, 1,300 “foreigners” died in detention over a six-year period due to lack of medical treatment and neglect.

Despite overwhelming criticism from Australian and Malaysian civil society groups, and international agencies like the OHCHR, the UN’s human rights agency, and Human Rights Watch, current discussions on the viability of the refugee swap deal or the deal breaker seem to revolve around whether the UNHCR will sign off on the deal.

Although UNHCR involvement would certainly be important and preferable to noninvolvement, the view that the deal stands or falls with the UNHCR is very narrow and seems to overestimate that agency’s influence on the Malaysian government.

The UNHCR’s presence in Malaysia is not based on any legally binding agreement with the Malaysian government. Instead, it works on the basis of arbitrary “general understandings” with government ministries and law enforcement agencies.

And since it does not appear to be in the cards there will be any comprehensive and groundbreaking reforms in Malaysia’s immigration laws and policies, the international community should not overestimate what the UNHCR can do there.

In certain circumstances, refugees in Malaysia with UNHCR documents may be released from police arrest due to better document recognition. They may also be exempted from prosecution for immigration offenses. But intervention remains difficult in detention centers as the UNHCR must obtain release letters from the various authorities, and that can take months or years.

Refugees are real people with real needs. They should not be treated like a political football to be kicked around from Nauru, Christmas Island, Papua New Guinea and now to Malaysia in order to obtain a perceived political advantage.

Australia should look into its international and national human rights obligations on how best to treat refugees with dignity and respect while at the same time deal with human trafficking.
Note: Australia and Malaysia is set to ink the asylum swap deal tomorrow (Monday).

Eric Paulsen is a co-founder of Lawyers for Liberty, a human rights and law reform organization based in Malaysia. This article was first published in Jakarta Globe.

Najib: Don’t dispute RCI report on Teoh

The prime minister said the findings were based on truth.

KANGAR: Najib Tun Razak said today there should not be any more dispute over the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the death of Teoh Beng Hock, saying the findings were based on truth.

The prime minister said the commission was formed in the name of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and was an independent, just and credible body and that their findings would be the truth.

“Don’t question the findings because this will defeat the purpose of having the commission,” he told a news conference here.

He added that if the people continued to dispute the findings, what then was the alternative to establish the political aide’s cause of death?

He was asked to comment on the reaction to the commission’s report unveiled on Thursday, with some disputing the findings that Teoh’s death was suicide.

The commission was headed by Federal Court judge James Foong Cheng Yuen and comprised Federal Court judge Abdul Kadir Sulaiman, former Appeal Court judge TS Nathan, Penang Hospital’s forensic pathology consultant Dr Bhupinder Singh, Dean of Cyberjaya Medical Science College University and consultant forensic psychiatrist Prof Dr Mohamed Hatta Shaharom and Legal Affairs Division Director-General at the Prime Minister’s Department Saripuddin Kasim.

It was tasked with investigating the death of Teoh — political aide to Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah — whose body was found on July 16, 2009, on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, Selangor.

On the three officers of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission whose “relentless, aggressive and oppressive” interrogation techniques were blamed for driving Teoh to suicide, Najib said any action taken against them should be based on existing laws and regulations.

- Bernama

In Malaysia, When in Doubt, Blame the Jews

By Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Huffington Post 

It's time for Malaysian leaders to grow up. Relying on big-lie Jewish conspiracies is no substitute for honest and transparent governance.
 
On July 9, 20,000 Malaysians gathered in Kuala Lumpur to demand more transparency in electoral laws in connection with next year's national elections.

Police unleashed tear gas and chemical-laced water on the demonstrators and temporarily detained nearly 1,700 of them. According to reports, authorities also detained six opposition activists without trial and accused them of trying to use the rally to spread communism. Police said they found T-shirts and other materials linked to communist figures.

Apparently, these measures didn't suffice for some of Malaysia's nervous ruling elite. The editors of Utusan Malaysia, owned by Prime Minister Najib Razak's United Malays National Organization ruling party (UMNO), defaulted to a time-tested maneuver: When in doubt, blame the Jews!

The Jews? Most citizens of the overwhelmingly Asian economic giant have never and will likely never meet a Jew in their lifetime. And yet the folks at Utusan Malaysia, which is influential among Muslims in rural areas who rely on government-linked media to shape their worldview, are apparently confident warnings about a "Jewish plot" would resonate in a land without Jews.

To understand why, you need only look at the track record of the man who dominated his nation for a quarter of a century, Malaysia's fourth prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir was credited with engineering Malaysia's rapid modernization and spectacular economic growth. He was a dominant political figure, winning five consecutive general elections. He also used his political clout and controversial laws to detain activists and political opponents.

And Mahathir is an anti-Semite.

Back in 1970, in his treatise on Malay identity, "The Malay Dilemma," he wrote: "The Jews are not only hooked-nosed ... but understand money instinctively. ... Jewish stinginess and financial wizardry gained them the economic control of Europe and provoked antisemitism which waxed and waned throughout Europe through the ages."

In August 1984, a visit by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra was canceled when his Information Minister demanded that music by composer Ernst Bloch be deleted from the program. His crime? He was a Jew and the selection chosen was based on Hebrew melodies.

In 1986, Mahathir charged "Zionists" and Jews with attempting to destabilize the country through allegedly Jewish-controlled media. He subsequently banned The Asia Wall Street Journal for three months describing the publication as "Jewish owned." In the 1990s, Mahathir used the Malaysian news agency, Bernama, to accuse Australian Jewry of conspiring to topple him.

Mahathir, who made Islam a central component of Malaysian identity, made this chilling charge in 1997: "We are Moslems, and the Jews are not happy to see Moslems progress."

Perhaps that would help explain the resounding ovation which greeted his screed at a Islamic Leadership Conference in 2003: "The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million ... but today, the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them."

And just last year the elder statesman of anti-Semites said this at a conference: "Jews had always been a problem in European countries. They had been confined in ghettos and periodically massacred. But they still remained and still thrived and held whole governments to ransom. ... Even after their massacre by the Nazis in Germany, they survived to be a source of even greater problems to the world."

All this may help explain why Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and the infamous "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" are on prominent display at the Malaysian capital's International Airport.

But there are some signs that in 2011 not everyone is drinking Mahathir's toxic Kool-Aid. Maria Chin Abdullah, one of the organizers of the mass rally that sought to prevent electoral fraud, charged that Utusan Malaysia's warning of an alleged Jewish conspiracy was "nonsense that is being spread in very bad taste," adding, "To rely on this claim of Jewish support is to insult the people's good intentions of seeking important reforms."

Perhaps Kuala Lumpur hasn't paid much attention to the Arab Spring. Maybe its time they did, especially since it was inspired by Muslims demanding more freedom and democracy. It isn't world Jewry that is driving members of minorities to the streets of Kuala Lumpur, but the failure of a democratic government to provide equal rights and opportunities to all their citizens. It's time for Malaysian leaders to grow up. Relying on big-lie Jewish conspiracies is no substitute for honest and transparent governance.

AirAsia Moves Corporate HQ from KL to Jakarta

Last Call for Jakarta

Putting regional office in Indonesia is a blow for Prime Minister Najib
With all the troubles he has had over the last two months, the confirmation Friday that AirAsia, arguably Malaysia’s most vibrant private company, is moving its headquarters out of the country to Indonesia is one more blow.

Tony Fernandes, AirAsia’s group chief executive, confirmed the decision in Tokyo Thursday, saying the move is an effort to upgrade his company’s image as a regional Southeast Asian airline rather than just a Malaysian carrier.

“I don't know whether Najib has been told or not,” said a business associate of Fernandes in Kuala Lumpur. “But why should Tony care? There are solid business reasons for moving to Jakarta.”

Najib has been on a whirlwind trip to foreign capitals to try and mend the country’s image in the wake of a violent police crackdown on peaceful marchers seeking to present a petition to the country’s king on July 9, asking for election reform. In a throwback to the 1980s, Malaysian censors blacked out details of a report about the march carried in The Economist.

That was followed on July 23 with the results of a royal commission of inquiry that concluded that a young aide to an opposition politician had been hounded so badly during a marathon interrogation over office spending that he threw himself out of a window and killed himself.

Then on Friday, immigration officials took William Bourdon, the leader of a team seeking to ferret out the details of a massive scandal involving defense procurement, off a plane in Kuala Lumpur, held him for several hours and ordered him deported via a flight back to Paris.

Fernandes characterized the move of the headquarters as a simple business decision to take advantage of Indonesia’s vastly larger economy and population, which is nearly 10 times that of Malaysia’s, although Malaysian annual per-capita gross domestic product of US$14,700 by purchasing power parity is much higher currently than Indonesia’s at US$4,200. The size of the country, however, meant that the Indonesian economy was estimated by the CIA Factbook for 2010 at US$1.03 trillion against Malaysia’s US$414.4 billion.

AirAsia’s decision to move the headquarters is a serious negative propaganda blow for Najib’s 1Malaysia Plan, an intensive effort to lure foreign direct investment to Malaysia. In September 2010, the Malaysian government announced ambitious plans to mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment in an effort to move the country out of the so-called middle income trap, and double per capita income to push Malaysia into the ranks of developed nations by 2020.

AirAsia may well be the only Malaysian company besides the state-owned energy giant Petronas to have made an international impact – and Petronas does it by advertising intensively during Formula 1 races and by sponsoring a car – which Fernandes does as well. Launched in 2002 as a regional no-frills carrier with just two planes, AirAsia now flies 93 planes all over Asia. In addition, a long-haul service, AirAsia X, flies to Europe, Japan and Korea. The company earlier ordered 300 Airbus A320neos.to expand its routes across Asia and beyond.

It isn’t just the publicity damage. In the past 10 years, according to a report by the news agency Reuters, private companies invested just RM535 billion (US$172.4 billion), according to official data. Malaysia’s private investment rate of about 10 percent of GDP is among the lowest in Asia and a third of what it was before the 1998 Asian financial crisis. The government, according to Reuters, contributes around half the investment in Malaysia.

In addition, Malaysia has long been plagued by capital flight, which has been generally regarded as an indication of lack of faith in the country on the part of its businessmen, although in Malaysia’s case the bulk may well be from stolen timber leaving the country from Sarawak and Sabah. Nonetheless, the US-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity estimated in a 2010 report that as much as RM888 billion (US$298.3 billion at current exchange rates) had left the country between 2000 and 2008. Illicit financial flows generally involve the transfer of money earned through illegal activities such as corruption, transactions involving contraband goods, criminal activities and efforts to shelter wealth from tax authorities.

AirAsia said the move is a bid to take advantage of access to the Asean secretariat, which is based in Jakarta, in advance of an open skies agreement expected to go into effect in 2015 and which is designed to lower barriers for air travel between the region’s capitals.

Asked why he chose to move the fast-growing airline’s principal corporate base to Jakarta from Kuala Lumpur, Fernandes said: “Asean is based in Jakarta, and Indonesia will be the largest economy in Asean in times to come … And I like it there” – enough, he said, to have impelled him to have already bought a home in Jakarta.

The Indonesia National Air Carriers Association forecasts passenger growth at 10 percent to 15 percent this year. Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency reported that domestic air traffic grew 22 percent to 53.4 million passengers in 2010 on growing demand from the middle class for domestic flights. That is higher than the 9 percent average increase recorded by Asia-Pacific carriers, according to data from the International Air Transport Association.

“Indonesia is among very few countries that managed to record strong growth in air traffic last year,” said an analyst quoted by the Jakarta Globe. “The lack of available airlines compared to population and geographic conditions is only a sign that there’s a lot of opportunity here.”

(With reporting from the Jakarta Globe)

Habeas corpus made meaningless!

P Ramakrishnan - President  Aliran


Aliran is deeply disillusioned with the judiciary. Instead of depending on technicalities and loopholes in the law, it should focus on fairness and justice.

It should be prominently and predominantly concerned with freedom and human rights of the citizens. When the freedom of individuals is deprived by dubious means, the judiciary should be uncompromising in defending that freedom.

Dr Jeyakumar and his five companions have been incarcerated since 2 July 2011. Nobody believes the accusations levelled against them. The whole exercise has turned into farcical nonsense.


They were initially accused of “waging war against the King”. But that accusation has been dropped now. What does this suggest with regard to the integrity of the police? It only means that they cooked up an excuse to detain them.

Then they were accused of reviving communism in this country. Images of past communists leaders printed on T-shirts in their possession do not support this theory.

It is now no longer the contentious issue. What does this prove? The police are grasping at straws in desperation to justify their action. But it won’t do them any good.

Then the six were detained under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 under the false pretence that they were a threat to public security.

These six citizens are no goons or gangsters to pose any such threat. Nevertheless, they are accused of being a threat to national security. What does it prove? It only means that any flimsy grounds would suffice to detain any individual under this anti-democratic and draconic law, which blatantly denies a person his natural justice, including the right to defend himself or herself. But it won’t win support for the police.

Ridiculously, the six are now projected as the prime movers of Bersih 2.0, when the entire country is aware that it is the coalition of 62 NGOs headed by Dato’ Dr. Ambiga Sreenevasan that was the sole mover of Bersih 2.0. These six are members of a political party and therefore had no role to play in Bersih 2.0, which excluded political parties from the Steering Committee of Bersih 2.0. What does it prove? It means that there is no respect for truth and the rule of law. But it is not going to help the police to shore up support for the Barisan Nasional.

It is under these circumstances that an application was made for a habeas corpus hearing to question the conduct of the police in detaining these six PSM members. After much haggling, 22 July was fixed for hearing. But now this hearing has been postponed to 5 August.

Any application under habeas corpus should – and must – deserve priority to ensure that it is heard almost immediately. There is an urgency that cannot be ignored. There is the question of justice that has to be addressed at the earliest possible time without any undue delay. This urgency is no longer there.

Whatever the reason for justifying this frustrating postponement, it will not look good for the judiciary. Its battered image – from previous absurd judicial pronouncements that had discredited the judiciary – will suffer a further ignominious blow. It appears that there is no saving grace for the judiciary!

Siapa Sebenarnya Abd Najid Razak ? Pemilik Tandatangan Borang K2 Cincin RM24Juta !!

ini petikan entry dari edyesdotcom

Anda semua jangan terkejut. Namanya pegawai kastam ini Abd Najid Razak, seakan-akan nama Perdana Menteri kita. Pegawai inilah yang menurunkan tandatangan ke atas borang kastam K2 yang kononnya menjadi petunjuk utama cincin berlian 'Natural Fancy Blue-Gray Cushion Cut Diamon' bernilai RM24Juta itu telah keluar dari Malaysia dan dibawa ke Singapura.

Sebelum diteruskan entry ini, jangan kita lupa bagaimana pihak-pihak terdesak menggunakan hujah yang kononnya terdapat sebuah pameran 'sulit' di tempat yang juga 'sulit', untuk tetamu VVIP yang sulit. Semuanya serba sulit hingga rakyat agak kesulitan untuk mempercayainya. Pameran serba sulit itu dikatakan berlangsung selama 3 hari iaitu dari 17-19 April 2011 dan seterusnya di'terbangkan' ke Singapura pada 20hb April. Atas sebab itulah terbitnya borang kastam K2.

Dengan borang K2 yang sama, Imelda Rosmah cuba diselamatkan kerana telah tertera nama Imelda Rosmah pada borang kastam K1(rekod kemasukkan/import barang dagangan). Anda boleh klik entry bertajuk 'Cetakan Borang Kastam Diubah Untuk Selamatkan Imelda Rosmah!!' untuk mengetahui bagaimana cubaan selamatkan Imelda Rosmah diikhtiarkan. Entry ini khas untuk pegawai kastam yang bertanggungjawab ke atas borang yang di'lulus' olehnya.

untuk membaca lanjut klik http://edyesdotcom.blogspot.com/2011/07/siapa-sebenarnya-abd-najid-razak.html

Crowds throng ceramahs, vigil

2030: A small but determined crowd is holding a candlelight vigil near the Central Market LRT in KL to protest the continuing detention without trial of the PSM 6.

Photograph: NashitaMN

Photograph: NashitaMN

Full house at the Ops Scorpene forum in Ipoh - Photograph: Cynthia Gabriel

Meanwhile, the Ops Scorpene forum in Ipoh tonight has drawn 300 residents – despite the absence of William Bourdon. (The dinner in KL last night attracted 500 while the event in Penang the night before saw 600 diners turning.)

Kajang Abim dinner - Photograph: MediaRakyat

Over in Kajang, a 230-table PKR dinner, at which Anwar is speaking, has received strong response. Meanwhile, lawyer N Surendran tweets that a ceramah in Lunas is being attended by “a spirited crowd of over 1000″.

Survivor: Gunman screams 'going to kill you all' during rampage

French lawyer Bourdon digs deeper into Scorpene deals

Pakistan gave $4m to illegal Kashmiri lobby group in Washington to snatch Kashmir, destroy India and kill the Hindus.

Chidanand Rajghatta  in WASHINGTON writes for TNN on Jul 19 2011 that : “Federal authorities on Monday arrested a prominent US-based pro-Pakistan activist associated with the Kashmiri separatist movement, accusing him of funneling money from the Pakistani spy agency ISI to lobby US decision-makers.

In the process, the Obama administration’s law enforcement brigade also blew open the Pakistan and its spy agency’s two-decade long subversion of the so-called Kashmir cause.

The FBI swooped down on the Virginia residence of Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai, a well-known representative of Kashmiri separatists in the US and detained him on charges of ”participating in a long-term conspiracy to act as agents of the Pakistani government in the United States without disclosing their affiliation with the Pakistani government as required by law.” Or simply put, he served as a frontman for ISI’s Kashmir agenda.Another individual, Zaheer Ahmed, like Fai a US citizen, was also similarly charged, but he is at large and believed to be in Pakistan, according to US authorities.

Fai has been a familiar and prominent figure in Washington DC for nearly two decades, lobbying Kashmiri separatist cause as executive director of the Kashmiri-American Council (KAC) and dallying with senators and congressmen. US authorities now say the KAC was just an ISI front, funded by Pakistan’s spy agency.

The FBI affidavit alleges that, although the KAC held itself out to be a Kashmiri organization run by Kashmiris and financed by Americans, ”it is one of three ‘Kashmir Centers’ that are actually run by elements of the Pakistani government, including ISI.” The two other Kashmir Centers are in London, England, and Brussels, Belgium.

According to the affidavit, a confidential witness told investigators that he participated in a scheme to obscure the origin of money transferred by Pakistan’s ISI to Fai to use as a lobbyist for the KAC in furtherance of Pakistani government interests. The witness explained that the money was transferred to Fai through Ahmad, an American living in Pakistan.

A second confidential witness told investigators that the ”ISI created the KAC to propagandize on behalf of the government of Pakistan with the goal of uniting Kashmir.” This witness said ”ISI’s sponsorship and control of KAC were secret and that ISI had been directing Fai’s activities for the past 25 years.””

Now it is detected that Pakistan gave $4m to illegal Kashmiri lobby group in Washington during these years. And FBI arrested the chair of “Kashmiri American Council”, Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai for working as unregistered ISI agent for two decades in US. But this is not an uncommon unrevealing in US or the other parts in present day world. Islamic money is very much proactive to finish the unbelievers whether a Christian, Hindu, Buddhits, an Quadiyani or anybody else Islam projects a Kaffir to be killed.

This promptness of FBI or other top US intelligence wing is really a name of indulgence of running many fanatic and sophisticated Islamic institutions in American soil rising huge funds for Radical Islam in the name of Islamophobia in US or the Rights of Muslims in America. Embarrassing enough that the Islamists run terror training camps in the soil of America against everybody. It is obvious that the video under must capture the attention of everybody.

See the Islamic Terrorist Training Camp in America.

God knows the Truth..

Actually, the Islamic lobby whether it is Arab, Palestine, Pakistan or anybody invests for the liberation for Kashmir or the dangerous Jihadi Blasts in India or for the network of Indian Mujaheedin or Harkat-ul-Hindustan, they only want killing field (Dar-ul-harb) in India to finish all Hindu Kaffirs to liberate Hindustan as a Dar-ul-Islam, a new Mughlistan or Arbistan or an Islamic name per their choice.

Rosmah factor in Sabah Umno

In Sabah Umno, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's wife Rosmah Mansor, strangely enough, seems to be an important factor in the battle between party vice-president Shafie Apdal and Chief Minister Musa Aman.

TAWAU: Umno president Najib Tun Razak is a worried man and much afraid of his own shadow and, if rumours are to be believed, his wife’s clout within the party.

Within Umno there are three groups of “intelligentsia” – two official and one unofficial. Each group has been turning out their own reports.

But of interest to Sabah is the group which believes that in order for Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) to become a “better and reformed” party, it should be “dethroned” first.

“A dethroned Umno and BN can make a stronger comeback in the 14th general election… There will be better unity and appreciation of each other,” said a veteran Umno insider.

According to the veteran insider, Najib too is “very much aware” of this view and secretly shares this opinion.

“That’s why he (Najib) openly said in his (Umno assembly) speech that he will defend Putrajaya ‘at any price’. He said it twice.

“He has given many hints of his views. Even last week he admitted that ‘normally a political party too long in power would not do self-introspection’.

“In other words, he is saying that a party (read Umno) takes for granted it would be in power forever, and thus arrogance would bring it down finally,” he said.

It is also now an open secret that opposition Pakatan Rakyat has consolidated its presence in Sarawak and is “convinced” of raking in eight MP seats.

Pakatan is also said to be optimistic of its chances in another five seats, making it a challenge for BN to maintain its grip on Sarawak’s 31 MP seats.

But Sabah is another story. Sabah lost two seats – Tawau and Kota Kinabalu – to the opposition in the 2008 general election.

Together, Sabah and Sarawak contribute 57 parliamentary seats (including one in Labuan), a crucial number that can tip the balance of power in the peninsula when the country goes to the national polls.

Malaysia has a total of 222 parliamentary seats, and it practises “first-pass-the-pole” system whereby a government can be formed once a simple majority in Parliament is attained.

Najib’s men

Although the 13th general election is not due until March 2013, signs are there that it could be held sooner.

Here the Election Commission (EC) has already begun appointing its polling district heads who are mostly school headmasters or principals in the state.

According to political observers in Tawau, the central BN leadership is confident it would not lose more than three of the 25 MP seats in Sabah.

But Sabah BN is a little more cautious. It sees a 50:50 chance in six seats – Sandakan, Penampang, Kota Belud, Pensiangan, Kota Marudu and Beluran.

Pressure is mounting on BN to win in Tawau, Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu, all Chinese-majority towns.
Reading between the lines of Najib’s many moves, an observer here said the prime minister had sent his own team to evaluate the situation in Tawau.

“Umno intelligence reports aside, Najib is sending his own trusted men to Sabah to do BN’s own analyses of its ground strength.

“He has sent Parliament Speaker, Pandikar Amin Mulia, to Sabah (for this purppose).

“Pandikar was in Tawau a few days ago to gauge the situation in Tawau alone.

“The prime minister does not want to rely on just Umno’s intelligence reports. It’s not because he refuses to believe them, but he simply wants a second or third opinion on BN’s real strength in Sabah.
“There’s an idea to get Sabah to hold its state election ahead of the general election as a way to gauge BN and Pakatan strength.

“But a faction within Umno is against such a psyche-war,” a local Umno source said.

The source believes Pandikar and Umno vice-president Shafie Apdal are working together to ensure Sabah retains the 25 MP seats, thus gifting Najib with the “fixed deposit” which is guaranteed to allow BN to “retain Putrajaya at all cost”.

Rosmah factor

State opposition DAP chief Jimmy Wong is also of the opinion that Najib wants Shafie, who is rumoured to be chief-minister-in-waiting, to lead the battle for the state.

It is a known fact here that Najib wants Shafie to be Sabah chief minister, replacing Musa Aman.
“There are two Umno camps here. One is the Najib-Shafie camp and other is Musa-Rosmah.

“Najib wants Shafie to be chief minister but Rosmah needs Musa on the seat, ” he said.

Wong’s comment seem to confirm widespread rumours here and in the peninsula that Rosmah, through her nominees, is in business with Musa-linked associates in the plantation and the quick-money spinning timber industry.

Rumours circulating the political circles here are that recent disclosures of Rosmah’s jewelled indulgences are allegedly linked to commissions she is allegedly receiving abroad.

Sabah is facing a serious shortage of round logs which the state, through its agencies, exports abroad. Round logs which are exported do not pay the state government royalties.

It is understood that payments for the logs are not remitted to Sabah but instead paid in a third country, such as Hong Kong.

A local sawmill operator told FMT earlier this week that it was puzzling why the state government was refusing to sell round logs to locals who were prepared to pay the same price as foreign buyers. The state government’s adamant stand has brought the industry to an almost standstill since early this year.

Wong threw some light on this matter when he said that there was the “above-board price and what was actually paid”.

“I am sure the buyers abroad are paying a lower price. Until now, the state has not declared how many logs it sells and how much is actually earned.

“Strange but in the last three years, state earnings from timber have been dropping considerably,” he said.

‘Sewa Undi’

Back to politics, Wong said that in Sabah, Musa and Umno “can do anything they want”.
“BN knows it will be difficult in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia this time.

“Here it is a one-man show. In the past 30 years , Umno-BN has done a lot of damage. It will be difficult to change the situation overnight,” he said.

Wong, who is Sri Tanjung state assemblyman, believes thtat to unseat the opposition-held parliamentary seats in Tawau and Kota Kinabalu and his own Sri Tanjung, Umno-BN would need to beef up its voter strength in these areas.

“They are already doing this by gerrymandering the electoral lines. They are downsizing big Chinese areas and leaving big Umno areas alone.

“They will also use the ‘sewa undi’ strategy.

“This is for the illegals here. Umno is holding them for ransom. It was doing this before… now with the amnesty programme, Umno will have acquired all the details it needs from more illegals.

“Then the party makes the MyKads and ‘sewa’ (rent) to them to ‘undi’ (vote). This is what happened even in the last election.
“We have proof of the many frauds but the EC is not interested in fairness, which is what Bersih 20 is asking.
“Clean the electoral lists of dead people and stop the gerrymandering,” said Chong.

Marginal wins

Meanwhile, a local activist told FMT that his informant in the National Registration Department (NRD) had revealed that the department had been directed by Putrajaya to ensure that 40,000 illegals in Sabah are issued MyKads.

“The informant told me last year about the directive from Putrajaya. So far they have managed to register 20,000 because the NRD is selective.

“NRD will only give it to the uneducated illegals. A friend who is Muslim and has some education was told that he cannot get a MyKad because he spoke English,” he said, adding that it was obvious that the government was only interested in the illiterate aliens and those who will not ask “too many questions”.

Another Umno source who is aware of this “operation” said that the 20,000 “new” voters would be placed in areas where BN saw marginal wins in Sabah.

“The voters will fill up areas which BN is unsure of. There are at least five other constituencies which are borderlines for BN,” he said.

‘Bourdon deported because he knew too much’

Nurul Izzah Anwar alleges that French lawyer Bourdon was deported because he may have had crucial information linking Najib to the Scorpene deal.

PETALING JAYA: Was French human rights lawyer William Bourdon deported because he knew too much?. That’s what PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar thinks.

She claims that Bourdon may have had access to crucial documents that may link Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to the controversial Scorpene submarine purchases.

“But the French court will provide public access to the investigation papers when the case goes on trial in September,” claimed Nurul at the Ops Scorpene fund raising dinner in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

The dinner, attended by nearly 500 guests, was hosted by Nurul’s aide, Fahmi Fadzil.

Yesterday, Bourdon, who was tasked to investigate corruption involving the submarine purchases, was detained at KLIA at 11.40am by the immigration officials when his flight arrived from Penang.

Subsequently, Bourdon was served a deportation order for violating the terms of his social visit pass and left the country at about 11pm.

Bourdon was supposed to be one of the speakers at the fund raising event yesterday.

Nurul, who is also Lembah Pantai MP, thanked  Bourdon for his courage in taking up the case on behalf of Suaram to investigate the mystery involving the submarine deal.

“He is a well known personality worldwide yet he was kicked out of the country dishonorably,” she said.
Fellow PKR vice president, Tian Chua reminded the guests at the dinner on how the Scorpene deal was also linked to the gruesome murder of Mongolian translator, Altantuya Shaaribu.

Chua said that recently Kelana Jaya MP Low Gwo Burne went to Mongolia and subsequently met the Altantuya’s father, Dr Setev Shaaribu.

In his visit, Chua said, Low was told by Shaaribu that his daughter’s ashes still remain in a Malaysian court as the case, in theory, is still unsolved.

“We may feel sympathy for his family but also remember that our tax money was used to finance the Scorpene deal,” he said.

In 2006, Altantuya’s remains were found in a secluded area in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam. Police investigation found that she was shot twice before her body was blown up using C-4 explosives.

She was said to be working as a translator for Perimekar Sdn Bhd, a company linked to Najib’s aide  Abdul Razak Baginda,  which was the company that sealed the deal on the two Scorpene submarines for Malaysia.
The multi-billion ringgit deal, which was inked in 2002 during Najib’s tenure as defense minister, was reported to have involved kickbacks worth RM500 million.

Subsequently, Abdul Razak was charged for abetting her murder in July 2008 but was acquitted about two months later. The prosecution team decided not to appeal against his acquittal.

Also present at the dinner yesterday were DAP publicity chief Tony Pua, Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah, PKR supreme council member Latheefa Koya and Suaram director Kua Kia Soong.

Pay up RM210 or no MyKad

A grandmother waited patiently for 39 years for her MyKad but when she finally went to collect her card she was told she had to pay for it.

By Athi Sankar,
PERMATANG PAUH:  A 51-year- old grandmother had waited patiently for 39 years for her identity card.Earlier, this week she thought her long wait was over, when she received a call from the Penang office of National Registration Department (NRD)  to come and collect her MyKad.

But when M Menachi went to collect her MyKad on Wednesday , she was in for a rude a shock. She was told she had to pay RM210 ro collect her card.

“The person at the counter told me that I can’t collect my MyKad without paying,” said Menachi.
The poor kitchen helper did not have money and had to go home without her MyKad.

Menachi informed the human rights NGO, Hindraf Makkal Sakti advisor N Ganesan who called up NRD office to inquire about the payment.

He was told by a women officer, known as Junaidah, that Menachi had not been required to pay RM210.
Instead, the officer claimed that Menachi was merely told to bring a support letter from her village head when collecting the MyKad.

“The counter officer asked for money, not penghulu’s letter.It was a lie,” insisted Menachi, a Hindu widow to a Muslim husband, Jamal, who passed away in 2009.

This is not the first time that Menachi had a run in with the authorities.

“It’s a curse to be  stateless poor Indians in this country,” she told  FMT.
The late Jamal and Menachi have three sons and two daughters, now aged 20 to 30.

Her three boys, Kamal, Aziz and Jasmin, did not face any difficulty obtaining  birth certificates and identity cards because they were carrying Muslim names.

However, her two Hindu daughters, Santi and Mala, were not issued citizenship documents.

According to Menachi, NRD officers have always insisted that she and her daughters convert to Islam to enable them to btain the documents without anymore constraints.

“NRD denied our legitimate rights simply because we refused to convert to Islam,” she said.
Because of the conversion issue, Santi, 30, could not even legally register her marriage with construction worker, V Shivamoorthy, 34 in Aug 2004.

Subsequently Santi’s three children – Nisantini,6, Karthikesan, 5, and Eswaran, 4, were also denied birth certificates initially.

She first sought help of local MIC leaders. But she claimed instead of helping her, the so-called community leaders  ‘advised’ her to convert to solve all her problems.

Menachi then sought the help of Hindraf ground volunteers, who then re-submitted official applications supported by some legal documents, to obtain the citizen documents for her and her children.

Finally a month ago, Santi and Mala received their birth certificates and MyKads.

Santi’s children too obtained their birth certificates, leaving Menachi the only one without her MyKad.
Ganesan has donated  RM210  for Menachi’s  MyKad and she will go to the NRD office next week hoping to collect her card.

Citing Menachi case as mere a tip of the iceberg, Ganesan said the government’s MyDaftar campaign, which was supposedly to resolve ethnic Indians stateless problems is not working at all.

He described the campaign as mere wayang kulit (shadow play) .   He blamed UMNO’s for the plight of the stateless Indians

He said UMNO agenda was to treat ethnic Indians as “immigrants” and deny them, especially the poor, any citizenship rights .

Kuli to lead the Third Force? Against UMNO?

That’s the IGP looking out at the BERSIH 2.0 rally on 9th July, through a keyhole.
That’s why he is reported to have said that there were only 6,000 Malaysians rallying out there that day.
Those of us who were out there on 709 saw something else.

Some online media reported the numbers as being approximately 50,000.
BBC, it seems, counted the crowd as numbering in the region of 120,000.
Blogger buddy Hawkeye calculates the numbers rallying on 709 as being in excess of 200,000.
Whatever the actual numbers, as RPK said 5 days after the rally, “On 9th July 2011, what we saw was The Third Force in action. This was not about ‘three-corner fights’. This was about taking back power from the politicians and transferring it into the hands of the rakyat.
Never mind whether 6,000 people came out that day (as what the police says), or 20,000 people (as what the mainstream media says), or 50,000 people (as what some say), or 200,000 people (as what others say), or whatever. The numbers are not as important as the fact that the rakyat demonstrated their will to come out to show their unhappiness and to send a strong message to the powers-that-be that changes must happen and resistance is futile.
The rakyat has ‘tasted blood’, that day on 9th July 2011. And there is no turning back the clock. Bersih has taught the rakyat the meaning of The Third Force. The rakyat now understands that united they can force changes. And the rakyat is going to continue to force changes and anyone who stands in the way of the rakyat is going to be swept aside”.
MCLM acknowledges each of you who were out there rallying peacefully on 709 as a forcto be reckoned with in your own right.
You are the Third Force.
If any of you who were in the rally see me anywhere, come up to me and say, “Bro, I was there on 709″, I will present to you this badge of honour

as a little token  of acknowledgement from RPK and I that you are part of the Third Force.
In his post that I just referred to, RPK concluded the same with the following :
“We hope, now, the meaning of The Third Force becomes clearer. And the newly crowned leader of this Third Force is Ambiga Sreenevasan. She may be a reluctant leader. Maybe she did not plan to emerge as its leader. However, like it or not, she is now the leader of Malaysia’s Third Force.
Now I hope you understand what we mean when we talk about The Third Force”.
The coming days and weeks will reveal if indeed Ambiga has arrived to lead the Third Force.
Yesterday, Kuli launched his Angkatan Amanah Merdeka, or Amanah, for short.
I was invited to attend the launch, to lend support for this latest effort by Kuli and several other leaders, past and present.
However, the event clashed with the scheduled hearing of the habeas corpus application of the EO6.
I am very clear about the cause of the EO6, and it is one very close to my heart.
I cannot yet say the same of Kuli’s Amanah.
In the result, I ended up in Mahkamah Tinggi Jenayah 1, rather than at the Tunku Andul Rahman Memorial Centre.
FreeMalaysiaToday’s Syed Jamal Zahiid, who was at the launch, reports that Kuli “hinted” that Amanah  ‘could possibly be the catalyst to a rising third force’.
Amanah the catalyst to a rising third force?
Quite clearly, Kuli and his fellow Amanites were not there at the rally on 709 to witness first hand that the Third Force had already arisen, and needed no further catalyst from anyone.
Syed Jamal reports that in an inspiring speech, Kuli ‘called on the silent majority to voice their discontent against “rife corruption, cronyism and racial crisis” ‘.
With the greatest of respect to Kuli, that inspiring speech has come a little late.
Some 13 days before, on 709, the Third Force, long silent, rose and were heard, above the din of roaring water cannon trucks, sirens and tear gas shots.
Does Kuli now offer to lead this Third Force?
If so, where to?
The rehabilitation of this nation, or to rehabilitate UMNO?
If the former, Kuli must fully realise that the Third Force sees UMNO as the most evil scourge this nation has had to endure, and he must take the first bold step of severing all ties with the party if he is to offer us his leadership.
If, however, the Kelantan prince persists in his past hopes of rehabilitating UMNO from within, but this time through the vehicle of Amanah, he should ready himself to face the Third Force, rather than lead it.
I, and so many more amongst the Third Force, wait with bated breath, to see where Kuli will go with his Amanah.

Seventeen dead in Norway bomb and gun attack

Rescue workers work at the scene of a powerful explosion that rocked central Oslo July 22, 2011. A huge explosion damaged government buildings in central Oslo on Friday including Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's office, injuring several people, a Reuters witness said. REUTERS/Berit Roald/ScanpixBy Walter Gibbs and Alister Doyle

OSLO, July 23 (Reuters) - A bomb ripped through Oslo's central government district on Friday and a gunman dressed as a policeman then opened fire at a youth camp on a nearby island, killing at least 17 people altogether.

In the biggest attack in western Europe since the 2005 London transport bombings, seven died when the bomb exploded in the Norwegian capital in mid-afternoon scattering glass, shattered masonry and twisted steel across the streets.

Shortly afterwards, a gunman opened fire at the youth camp of the ruling political party on Utoeya island, north-west of Oslo. Police said at least 10 were shot dead as they fled shooting on the small, wooded island. The island was evacuated and police found undetonated explosives.

"I saw young people running around, jumping into the water," Kristine Melby, who lives across the narrow channel on the Norwegian mainland, told Al Jazeera television. "We heard people screaming."

The gunman, a 32-year-old Norwegian citizen, was held by police. The double attack bore some hallmarks of al Qaeda but analysts suggested right-wing militants might also be responsible.

"I have a message to the one who attacked us and those who were behind this," Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said in a televised news conference. "No one will bomb us to silence, no one will shoot us to silence."

The bomb, which shook the city centre at around 3:30 p.m. (1330 GMT), blew out the windows of the Prime Minister's building and damaged the finance and oil ministry buildings.

"People ran in panic," said bystander Kjersti Vedun.

With police advising people to evacuate central Oslo, apparently in fear of more attacks, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told Norwegian TV2 television in a phone call that the situation was "very serious". He said that police had told him not to say where he was speaking from.

"This is a terror attack. It is the most violent event to strike Norway since World War Two," said Geir Bekkevold, an opposition parliamentarian for the Christian Peoples Party.

A Reuters witness saw soldiers taking up positions in Oslo shortly after the bombing.

The gunman, described by a police official as tall and blond, was reported by Norwegian media to have taken advantage of the confusion caused by the bombing to attack the summer camp of Stoltenberg's Labour party youth section.

"There was a lot of shooting ... We hid under a bed. It was very terrifying," a young woman at the camp told British Sky television.

NO CLUES YET FROM DETAINED MAN

NUPI political think tank Senior Research Fellow Jakub Godzimirski said he suspected a right-winger more than a militant Islamist attack. Right wing groups have grown up around the issue of immigration in Norway.

"It would be very odd for Islamists to have a local political angle. The attack on the Labour youth meeting suggests it's something else. If Islamists wanted to attack, they could have set off a bomb in a nearby shopping mall rather than a remote island."

Deputy Oslo police chief Sveining Sponheim told reporters that the gunman in the Utoeya shootings had been disguised in a blue police-style uniform but had never been a police officer.

He said that the police also believed that the man may have been involved in both the Oslo bombing and the shootings. So far, the detained man had not said anything to the police.

NATO member Norway has been the target of threats before over its involvement in conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya.

The attack came just over a year after three men were arrested on suspicion of having links to al Qaeda and planning to attack targets in Norway. It also came less than three months after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in a raid on his hideout in Pakistan.

Violence or the threat of it has already come to the other Nordic states: a botched bomb attack took place in the Swedish capital Stockholm last December and the bomber was killed.

Denmark has received repeated threats after a newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in late 2005, angering Muslims worldwide.

In Oslo, the building of a publisher which recently put out a translation of a Danish book on the cartoon controversy was also affected, but was apparently not the target.

Police have been on the alert for complex gun-and-bomb attacks on European cities since the assault by 10 gunmen on India's financial capital Mumbai in November 2008 which killed 166 people. The Oslo attacks, though hitting two targets, were not simultaneous and the delay between them left open the possibility of a single perpetrator.

Madrid suffered an Islamist militant bomb attack on commuter trains in 2004 that killed 191 people. Four suicide bombers killed 52 people in an attack on London's transport system in 2005.

The Oslo district attacked is the very heart of power in Norway. Nevertheless, security is not tight in a country unused to such violence and better known for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in conflicts, including the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

The Reuters correspondent said the streets had been fairly quiet in mid-afternoon on a Friday in high summer, when many Oslo residents take vacation or leave for weekend breaks.

The failed December attack in Stockholm was by a Muslim man who grew up in Sweden but said he had been angered by Sweden's involvement in the NATO-led force in Afghanistan and the Prophet Mohammad cartoons.

That attack was followed weeks later by the arrest in Denmark of five men for allegedly planning to attack the newspaper which first ran the Mohammad cartoons.

In July 2010, Norwegian police arrested three men for an alleged plot to organise at least one attack on Norwegian targets and said they were linked to individuals investigated in the United States and Britain.

© REUTERS 2011

Perpaduan hilang kerana memerintah tak betul

Man who had relationship with primary-school girl jailed for 10 years

A MAN who claimed it was culturally acceptable for him to have a sexual relationship with a primary-school child who later bore him a son will spend up to 10 years in jail. 
 
The 31-year-old, now classified as a pedophile, had claimed his cultural background meant age was not a relevant factor in choosing a wife or sexual partner, the County Court in Melbourne heard.

But in sentencing the man, who migrated as a refugee from a north-Asian country, Judge Lisa Hannan said his continued sexual relationship with the girl - from the age of eight until she fell pregnant  - was repulsive and defied morality.

The court heard the man, who was married to an adult at the time of the offending and already had a child, had an IQ in the bottom 5 per cent for his age group.

"Your conduct is abhorrent to anyone with even a shred of decency or moral compass,'' Judge Hannan said.

"Whether or not it may or might have been acceptable in any culture in any part of the world is irrelevant.''
The court heard the man, who pleaded guilty to charges of persistent sexual abuse of a minor and child stealing, had told authorities in his cultural background "there were no restrictions on age'' for a relationship.

But Judge Hannan said the man knew he was breaking Australian law, that he initially lied about having sex with the child and attempted to procure an abortion before a baby was born in 2010.

"You knew what you were doing was wrong,'' the judge said.

Judge Hannan, in setting a seven-year minimum, said his "disgraceful desires'' had "robbed her of her childhood''.

Judge Hannan also disputed the extent of the man's remorse, noting he continued to try to justify his relationship with her - including saying he loved her "for real''.

"I do not think you are truly remorseful ... indeed you still seek to justify it.''

Perception: Bersih, Where Do We Go From Here?

‘Under pressure’ Najib cancels family vacation

The premier cancels a family vacation because he wants to spend more time with Malaysians, signalling that all may not be well in Putrajaya.

SEPANG: The Malaysian political landscape is experiencing a series of tremors and with numerous conspiracy theories and speculations being churned out, some predict that an earthquake is imminent.

As for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, things started to roll downhill since July 9, when tens of thousands of Malaysians took to the streets to push for free and fair elections.

Observers claimed that the nation’s sixth premier, who had vowed to recapture Barisan Nasional’s glory following its 2008 electoral bruising, is now under tremendous pressure, and it is not coming from the opposition alone.

Speculation is rife that the daggers are out for Najib in Umno itself, and adding to the woes is the party veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s newly launched outfit, Angkatan Amanah Rakyat, whose true objectives remain vague.

The iron-fist response towards the Bersih 2.0 rally soiled Najib’s image both here and abroad, and under this cloud of political gloom, the premier returned home this morning following a working visit to three countries, which also saw him visiting the Vatican.

When he touched down at KLIA, Najib added more coal to the burning speculation that all was not well in Putrajaya when he revealed that he had cancelled a family holiday to be with the people.

“I told my family I felt that I should return to Malaysia and that I was prepared to forgo the holiday for the sake of Malaysians back home,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

According to the national news agency, Najib was greeted by some 3,000 people, including his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin and his cousin, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

There was also a banner unfurled at the airport bearing the signatures of “1.2 million Malaysians” backing his leadership. The campaign was initiated by the Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress (Kimma), an associate member of Umno.

‘They want to topple the government’

Najib said he informed Muhyiddin that it was important that both of them and the other ministers as well to go down to the ground to meet the people.

“We have to meet the people. We have to tell them that they can depend on the Barisan Nasional government, that BN is their best choice,” he said.

Najib also thanked his wife Rosmah Mansor and their children for understanding the need to cancel the holiday.

Meanwhile, another report quoted the prime minister of reiterating his charge that Bersih 2.0 was attempting to topple his government through street rallies under the guise of calling for electoral reforms.
Dismissing the claim that the Election Comission tips the scales in BN’s favour during polls, Najib said: “We have never cheated in an election.”

According to him, the rallies were not about reforms but rather to create the impression that his administration was autocratic.

90 groups demand release of EO6

A group of about 200 people gathered outside the federal police headquarters demanding that the six detained PSM leaders be released.

VIDEO INSIDE

KUALA LUMPUR: “Free them now! Free the detainees! Abolish the Emergency Ordinance!,” they shouted.

A few hundred people gathered outside the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters here after Friday prayers today demanding the unconditional release of six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members who are being detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO), which allows for detention without trial.

The group representing some 90 groups started gathering at 2.30pm and was led by PSM, which handed over a memorandum to the police.

“We feel that this constitutes political robbery. We are being blacklisted as human beings by the authorities,” PSM president Dr Nasir Hashim said.

“There should no longer be any considerations, release them now. We are proud to be gathering here today as we want them to know that the power of the people decides things. We pay taxes and we vote.

This is unfortunate. Bersih rally is over, why detain them?” asked Hashim on a loud-hailer to a cheering crowd.

The police, who stood a distance away, showed noticeable restraint and allowed the group of about 200 or so to gather with banners condemning the police for more than an hour.

Police also moved the crowd to a shaded area at the sidewalk and monitored the crowd silently.

Addressing the crowd, PKR vice-president Tian Chua said the government is still dozing as it failed to realise it is not relevant anymore.

“This is the time of the rise of the rakyat. We will not stop here. If this memorandum is ignored, we will return in bigger numbers!” he said.

“This (protest) is not just for the six detained under the EO but to free our people, our rakyat, from the clutches of cruelty,” he added.

Earlier today, a habaes corpus application asking for the release of the six was postponed by the High Court to August.

PAS leader Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the people today are “forced to gather to protest”.

“They (six detainees) have been detained for 12 days for supposedly waging war against the King. “But we all know it is about Bersih 2.0, which actually wants to clean everything dirty in the country. We don’t want to see our country continuing with such draconian and feudal laws.”

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo questioned why the EO was still being used when the nation was obviously not in a state of emergency.

“According to the minister and police, we are still in emergency. Do we see communist coming here?”
“We will fight. This is a warning to the government. Don’t play with the people, we can determine who is the government,” said Gobind.



Women’s Aid Organisation leader Ivy Josiah said the people were not fooled by the arrest.

“You are not fooling us. For over 30 years they have been activists. They are good people… why are they in jail? EO is a lazy law when they can’t investigate properly,” said Josiah.

Activist Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim said he challenged the police to bring three religious leaders and he would bring his scholars as he could prove that police action was “illegal according to Islamic statutes”.
The memorandum was handed over to public relation officer DSP Lai Lee Ching .

Previously several memorandums had been sent to the government pressuring for the release of the six detainees.

Other efforts include daily candlelight vigils, lodging mass police reports and a signature drive.
Thirty PSM members were arrested on June 26 and remanded on suspicion of waging war against the King. After the expiry of a seven-day remand period on July 2, the six were detained without trial under the EO.

The PSM EO6, as they are now known, are Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar, PSM deputy president M Sarasvathy, central committee members Choo Chon Kai and M Sugumaran, Youth chief R Saratbabu and Sungai Siput branch secretary A Letchumanan.

The six were part of a group of 30 PSM activists who were arrested at the Sungai Dua toll plaza in Kepala Batas, Penang, while on their nationwide roadshow to call the rakyat to vote for change.

Scorpene scandal: ‘Truth to surface soon’

French lawyer William Bourdon says corruption related to the submarine deal will be exposed when a judge is picked in September to hear the case.

By Athi Sankar - FMT

GEORGE TOWN: The French investigative judge who will hear the case into the Scorpene submarine scandal will be picked in September and the truth will be exposed, said prominent human rights lawyer William Bourdon.

The Frenchman said he would then have smooth access to scrutinise all documents and interview major witnesses pertaining to the submarine deal between Malaysia and France.

“I would be able to disclose more information on the case and identify those involved,” he said after a speech at Suaram’s fundraiser dubbed “Ops Scorpene” in Bayan Baru here last night.
Suaram filed a case against French naval defence giant DCNS in 2009 over irregularities in the Scorpene deal between Malaysia and France.

Bourdon, who has been providing pro bono services for Suaram in the case, said currently he had limited access to relevant information, documents and witnesses.

Under the French justice system, an investigative judge has the power to perform both as a judge and investigating prosecutor.

All relevant papers on the submarine deal between France and Malaysia are with the court now and only an investigative judge can allow the documents for public access.

Bourdon said when the case goes to open trial, all documents and contracts will be made public and witnesses, including Malaysian officials, can be subpoenaed.

The Scorpene scandal involves commissions amounting to 114.96 million euros (RM574.8 million) paid to Malaysian consulting company Perimekar Sdn Bhd.

A French prosecution probe revealed another 30 million euros (RM150 million) paid to DCNS’ commercial network Thales and another 2.5 million euros (RM7.5 million) paid to an unknown recipient.
Perimekar is a subsidiary of KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd, of which the major shareholder is the wife of Abdul Razak Baginda, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s close confidante who was charged with and acquitted of the murder of translator Altantuya Shariibuu.

Social responsibility

Last night’s dinner kick-started Suaram’s “Ops Scorpene” fundraising events. “Ops Scorpene” is a awareness campaign to pursue the case in French courts as a matter of national interest.


Bourdon and his team of lawyers at Sherpa, a non-profit organisation he founded in 2001, focus on improving legal tools to promote corporate social responsibility.

He specialises in the defence of human rights and victims of crimes against humanity.

Bourdon hinted that the “Ops Scorpene” investigation can take years depending on the access to information, documentation and cooperation to be extended by the Malaysian authorities.

He hopes Paris and Kuala Lumpur would cement close working ties, once the investigative judge had been appointed, to expedite his investigation.

He hopes that the Malaysian authorities would cooperate with his investigations. No matter how long it takes, Bourdon is convinced that the case would finally see the light.

“In the end, the truth will be known and exposed. Justice will prevail,” said Bourdon, who declined to deliberate much about his probe thus far.

Suaram board director Cynthia Gabriel, PKR’s Batu parliamentarian Tian Chua, DAP veteran MP Lim Kit Siang and PAS deputy president Mohamed Sabu all spoke at the dinner last night.

Wikileaks: US envoy says Umno abused security laws, institutions

The leaked cable said that “in good times Umno can maintain control by distributing power and money to get what it wants (but) in bad times, it uses the stick.” — Reuters file pic

 

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — The United States ambassador here told Washington in 2008 that Malaysia was facing a “political crisis” caused by Umno’s control and abuse of security institutions and national security laws to remain in power.


US ambassador James R. Keith said in a leaked cable, released by whistleblower site WikiLeaks through the Malaysia Today news portal that “in good times Umno can maintain control by distributing power and money to get what it wants (but) in bad times, it uses the stick, and for now that means intimidation.”

The document, signed by the US ambassador at the time, charged that Umno “controlled” security institutions like the military and the police by appointing “party stalwarts” to head these institutions. The cable said that while the army would remain “loyal” to legitimate leadership, the police, on the other hand, took direct orders from Umno.

“Umno leaders, united behind but also in a sense using Prime Minister (Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, have made it clear that they are willing to blacken Malaysia’s reputation to ensure the end to opposition leader (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim’s political challenge,” said the cable in reference to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leader’s on-going sodomy trial where he was charged with sodomising an ex-aide on June 26, 2008.

“The ruling elite maintains control over the security apparatus through party stalwarts who run the security institutions, mainly the police but also the military. We believe the military will remain loyal to legitimate leadership and is not a likely tool to overturn an elected, royally-approved and Malay-led government from either the ruling or opposition side. The police, on the other hand, follow orders from the ruling party.

The document also stated that the government had “failed” to convince the majority of Malaysians that Anwar’s sodomy trial was not politically-motivated. — file pic

“The “commando-style” arrest of Anwar last week, the roadblocks and security checks throughout the city of Kuala Lumpur, the recent arrest of blogger Raja Petra (Kamaruddin), intimidation of Sabah politicians, and the authorities’ strident rhetoric are all part of a broad message to the Malaysian people that they had better not stand in Umno’s path. In today’s Malaysia, one can get along by going along (and of course one can go farther as a Malay rather than a Chinese or Indian), but it is also true that one can be run over,” said the US cable.


The cable added that Umno defined national security as a means to protect the party’s “superiority” and to ensure that the opposition cannot take over the reins of federal power.

“Now the criminal law is laid bare as a political tool, just as useful to the ruling party as the national security law.

“Umno leaders may fail to grasp the consequences of upping the ante; they hear what we are saying, but do not understand sufficiently well how difficult it will be for them to overcome the shadows they are casting on the country. They no doubt thought they were choosing the more palatable path in using the criminal law, and thus the sodomy charge, rather than detaining Anwar as a matter of national security under the Internal Security Act. But contrary to their intent, many in the international community will take this as escalation,” said the cable.

The document stated that at that point in time the Barisan Nasional (BN) government had “failed” to convince the majority of Malaysians as well as the international community that Anwar’s sodomy trial was not politically-motivated.

“The authorities themselves betray that fiction on a daily basis in the pages of the domestic press, and barely one in 10 Malaysians are buying into the party line a survey tells us,” said the cable.

The report recommended that the US “exploit” every possible opportunity for “authoritative bilateral exchange” to ensure the BN government understood the costs of “efforts that diminish the rule of law.”