PAS sorting out visa for Sirul's mum

PAS is in the process of sorting out the visa application for Piah Samad so that she can visit her son, former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar, in Australia.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, party information chief Mahfuz Omar said Piah’s international passport is ready and they are now looking into purchasing the flight ticket.

"I will inform you (the media) when the process is ready. It is almost finished," he added.

Besides this, Mahfuz (left) said, he too has contacted Sirul, who is currently being held at an Immigration and Border Protection Department facility in Sydney, several times via the phone.

He added that it was up to Sirul whether he wants to reveal who ordered him and another former police commando Azilah Hadri to kill Altantuya Shaariibuu.

“I have contacted Sirul a couple of times. Sometimes I called and at times I would send him a text message. I only talked about his mother. He (Sirul) thanked PAS and me for helping him to inquire about his mother's welfare and also asking about his (Sirul's) own welfare.

Warrant of arrest

“I do not want to talk about his case as I do not want to be seen to be taking advantage of the situation. As far as I am concerned, it is up to Sirul whether he wants to reveal anything or not.

"It must come from his own heart, whether to reveal what truly transpired and who is behind his actions which resulted in him facing the death sentence,” Mahfuz said.

It was previously reported that PAS had intended to bring Piah to Australia to meet her son, who is being detained inSydney.

The last time Piah met her 43-year-old son was after Sirul, who is the fourth in the family of five children, was acquitted by the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya of the murder.

Last Jan 13, Azilah and Sirul were convicted with Altantuya's murder and were sentenced to death after the Federal Court reversed the Court of Appeal's decision.

Sirul was already in Australia at the time and a warrant of arrest was issued following the Federal Court verdict. Malaysian police sought Interpol's help and Sirul's name was placed on the wanted list or 'Red Notice'.

Spill the beans

However, following the outlawing of capital punishment by Australia, the country does not permit any person to be extradited to his or her home country if that person has been sentenced to death there.

Sirul, in an exclusive telephone conversation with Malaysiakini, said he was prepared to spill the beans on the biggest question as to the motive of the Altantuya murder.

He maintained that he and Azilah had only acted under instructions.

 

Sirul's right to tell all, says Hisham

It is murder convict Sirul Azhar Umar's right if he wants to reveal all on Altantuya Shaariibuu's murder, Defence Minister and Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

 

"That's his right," Hishammuddin told reporters in a press conference today.

 

However, he refused to say anything more on the matter.

 

"I do not know what is he is going to say, so how can I say anything?" he said.

Sirul, who has been detained by the immigration authorities in Australia after fleeing Malaysia before the judgment on his case by delivered by the Federal Court, told Malaysiakini he is mulling a tell-all interview with the Australian media.

Hishamuddin also said that he would be unable to tell if Sirul's revelations would be good for the government until Sirul actually revealed what he was threatening to reveal.

Murder motive to be exposed?

On Jan 13, Sirul and another former police commando Azilah Hadri, were convicted of Altantuya's murder and sentenced to death after the Federal Court reversed the Court of Appeal's decision.

Sirul was already in Australia at the time and a warrant of arrest was issued following the Federal Court verdict. Malaysian police sought Interpol's help and Sirul's name was placed on the wanted list or 'Red Notice'.

However, following the outlawing of capital punishment by Australia, that country does not permit any person to be extradited to his or her home country if that person has been sentenced to death there.

Sirul, in his exclusive telephone conversation with Malaysiakini, said he was prepared to spill the beans on the biggest question as to the motive for the Altantuya murder.


 

Hunt them down, lawyer demands

The police should re-open their investigations into the gruesome murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu following the recent revelations made by convicted murderer Sirul Azhar Umar.

Ramkarpal Singh, who is also a lawyer for the family of the slain Mongolian, said it is the duty of the police to re-open the investigations, especially in light of Sirul's expose.

The new probe should focus on who instructed the two police commandos to kill Altantuya, Ramkarpal said, given Sirul's revelation that he was under orders and the people with the motive to murder are free.

"These are no ordinary revelations that can be ignored. The people have the right to know who directed the assassination," he said in a statement.

Sirul and Azilah Hadri were sentenced to death by the Federal Court for killing Altantuya, despite the motive for the murder not having been established.

Ramkarpal (right), who is also Bukit Gelugor MP, described the murder as the most gruesome and highly publicised, and claimed it was a fact that Sirul did not even know Altantuya.

“Having been convicted by the Federal Court recently, both Sirul and Azilah seem to be at the centre of a much larger scenario, which forms the narrative of this murder,” he said.

“Although the Federal Court found the duo guilty, beyond reasonable doubt, for the murder of Altantuya, the matter does not come to an end as a result of the said conviction if evidence subsequently emerges implicating others, such as in this case.”

'Public interest warrants case be re-opened'

Ramkarpal noted that there was also a civil suit pending against Azilah, Sirul, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda and the government as defendants, as such revelations by Sirul would certainly be relevant to the this matter.

The High Court in Shah Alam has fixed March 13 for the case management of this matter, following the conclusion of the criminal case last month after the matter remained in imbroglio after having been filed in 2007.

Ramkarpal said recently that Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar had stated that the question of motive behind the murder was a non-issue, since the same court had not established it, and it was not for the police to investigate the matter.

“The IGP could not have been wrong (in this),” he said.

“I call upon the IGP to initiate fresh investigations into the matter forthwith in the public interests,” the lawyer reiterated.

Khalid told reporters today that the police would not re-open the investigation into the matter unless Sirul gives new information about the case.

Sirul's mother Piah Samad is also preparing to go to Australia to meet with her son, who is being detained at the Villawood Detention facility in Sydney.

 

IGP: No new Altantuya probe unless Sirul talks

 

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The police do not intend to re-open investigations into the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder unless convicted former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar divulges new information regarding the case.

"We do not see any reason to conduct a new probe into the case because of instigation of certain parties.

"We will see first what he (Sirul, right) will reveal," Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said at a press conference today.

The police chief was referring to the Malaysiakini report that Sirul is considering disclosing more details on the grisly murder to the media in Australia, where he is currently being detained pending possible extradition to Malaysia.

'Self-seeking' parties

A few Australian television stations have already contacted Sirul who is currently being held by immigration authorities in Sydney.

Meanwhile, Khalid said it was it was "illogical" for Sirul to reveal new information about the case now when he had refused to disclose such information when the investigation was on-going before.

"Why does he want to talk about all this only now?

"When he did not say anything the last time, why does he want to bring up new things on the case only now," Khalid questioned.

Khalid also suspected "self-seeking parties" of trying to sway Sirul into stating erroneous facts about the case for their own gain.

"I am worried that certain self-seeking parties are trying to instigate him with misinformation as they know that he is in Australia and the government there will not send him back.

"I am worried this (revealing of information) is only for the importance of certain parties," he said.


 

Sirul: I did as told, and this is what I get

EXCLUSIVE Former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar is vexed for being handed the death sentence for following a directive.

"If I die today, I would not find peace. I did what I was told and this is what I get in return," he told Malaysiakini in a recent telephone conversation from Australia.

However, he did not state if this was an admission of guilt on his part.

Sirul, who was convicted together with another former police commando Chief Azilah Hadri for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006, is also dissatisfied with the country's legal system.
                                                            
He felt that his former superior Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri should have been put on the witness stand by the prosecution. The latter was the former aide de camp of Najib Abdul Razak, who was then deputy prime minister and defence minister.

The Court of Appeal had in 2013 acquitted Azilah and Sirul as a result of a serious misdirection by the Shah Alam High Court. And this included the non-calling of Musa by the trial judge, Justice Mohd Zaki Yasin.

However, Sirul lamented that the Federal Court, which last month upheld the prosecution's appeal, had disregarded this.

"The court also ignored the questionable DNA evidence on the bloodstain found on a shoe placed in my car, as well as my own DNA sample.

"The court ignored this despite the strong submissions made by my lawyers," he added.

The prosecution team, led by deputy solicitor-general I Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, had argued that Musa was not a key witness in the trial and hence there was no need to call him.

However, Sirul's lawyers, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin and Hasnal Rezua Merican, submitted that the non-calling of Musa constituted a mistrial.

On the DNA evidence, the chemist had testified that there was a possibility the DNA from the bloodstain could be from Altantuya despite the doubts cast.

Motive not established

Sirul also reiterated his previous remark during the trial that he was made a "scapegoat" in the grisly murder, where Altantuya was shot in the head and her remains blown up with military-grade explosives.

He was also distressed by political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda's claim in an interview last month that "rogue policemen" were responsible for Altantuya's death in 2006.

Razak Baginda (left), a close associate of Najib, was charged with abetting in the murder but was later freed without his defence being called.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported Sirul claiming that he acted under orders and had no prior knowledge of both Altantuya and Razak Baginda.

He is also considering, after being approached by several Australian media, accepting interviews to reveal all on the murder.

Since the case was first heard in 2007 by the High Court sitting in Shah Alam, and up to the decision by the Federal Court on Feb 10, the murder motive was never established.

Sirul was absent when the Federal Court revealed its verdict, and news later emerged that he was in Australia.

The 43-year-old father of two is currently being held at the Immigration and Border Protection Department's facility in Sydney.

According to Sirul, he is well treated by the Australian authorities and he is staying alone in a room, with four beds, at the detention camp.

He said he is allowed to use his mobile phone and has access to the Internet.

Asked what prompted him to flee to Australia, Sirul said he had a premonition that he would be convicted.

Police: Pro-Anwar rally at court incident-free

What will it take to stop Isis using rape as a weapon of war?

The Guardian

Noor (not her real name), a 14-year-old girl from a small village in northern Iraq, was sold 15 times, passed from one Islamic State (Isis) fighter to the next. Each time, she was raped. Noor managed to escape and made her way, mostly on foot, to a refugee camp. There, she met Yanar Mohammed, an Iraqi women’s rights activist, who told me Noor’s story. “The worst moments,” Noor said, “were when one man would sell me to another. And I would have to hear them debating what my life was worth.”

I heard many more stories like Noor’s at a recent gathering of Iraqi and Syrian women’s rights activists in Istanbul. Some of the women had never met before, but they shared a common purpose: to end the scourge of rape unleashed on them by civil war and the ascent of Isis.

But how to do that? No soldier in a war will hold on to a weapon that does not work. So what will it take to disarm rape as a weapon of war?

A glimmer of an answer shone through the women’s harrowing stories. Activists from Syria and Iraq spoke of a subtle but critical shift in their communities to end the stigma surrounding sexual violence.

As recounted by the women in Istanbul, Isis has used rape to exert control and spread terror through communities. It has imposed draconian limits on women’s freedoms to work, speak or be seen in public, policing these controls through violence. Isis has abducted women and girls, sometimes by the busload, and sold them into sexual slavery.

Ordeals like Noor’s are neither random nor rare. Rape is useful for Isis: it traumatises individuals and undermines their sense of autonomy, control and safety. It triggers mass displacement when word reaches people.

But the most destructive power of rape as a weapon of war lies in the deep-rooted stigma attached to it. Survivors are ostracised, even blamed for the attacks. Families fear being tarnished by the stigma and banish wives, mothers and daughters. In the worst cases, people adhere to distorted notions of “honour” and kill rape survivors. In short, rape tears at the fabric that binds families and communities.

But something different is starting to happen in some of the Isis-controlled zones of Iraq and Syria. There, the sheer number of women who have suffered sexual violence seems to be creating a potential tipping point. The women I met, both Syrian and Iraqi, reported that with rape occurring on such a huge scale, some families are choosing not to reject their mothers and daughters returning from captivity by Isis. As Mohammed said: “It’s harder to blame a woman for having been raped when it’s happening to so many.”

We saw this change in Rwanda, where rape was a systematic weapon of genocide. Afterwards, the critical mass of survivors triggered a new national conversation on sexual violence, on the morality of ostracising survivors and on women’s human rights more broadly.

A similar shift may be possible now. If Iraqi and Syrian women’s rights advocates can uproot the community response that stigmatises and isolates rape survivors, the utility of rape as a weapon of war is diminished. It will not work to unravel communities. The strategic opening could be transformational for women and for warfare – but only if women from within affected communities can act now, while deeply rooted social norms around rape are in flux.

Grassroots activists in Iraq and Syria are already mobilised, reaching out to survivors and their families with aid and counselling. Some have set up emergency escape routes to activist-run shelters. Many regularly visit refugee camps, not only to bring relief supplies but to listen to women’s stories carefully and without judgment.

One woman whom Mohammed met in a refugee camp said that the first time she was raped, she asked herself whether she would survive to tell anyone about it. Speaking to Mohammed gave her hope, she said.

Activists like Mohammed have begun to change the conversation; in Istanbul, they referred to alliances forged with other activists and local officials, including prominent men. One Iraqi activist spoke of a local authority figure who has become an ally. At great personal risk, he condemned honour killing at a gathering of tribal heads. His brave act of solidarity opened a community dialogue in support of women’s rights.

All these are vital interventions, modelling a way for communities to stand by survivors and begin to render rape obsolete as a weapon of war.

As Mohammed said: “We want Noor’s community to see her not as a ruined, raped girl, but as a prisoner of war who was strong enough to survive weeks of torture and brave enough to escape.”

Sirul mulls revealing all on Altantuya murder

EXCLUSIVE After fleeing to Australia to escape the hangman's noose, former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar is now mulling answering the biggest riddle in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder - why did he and Azilah Hadri shoot dead the Mongolian woman and blow up her remains with explosives?

In a recent telephone conversation with Malaysiakini, Sirul (right) disclosed that several Australian media have requested for a "tell all" interview with him.

"I haven't decided (on whether) to do the interview," he said.

Asked if he would be prepared to spill the beans should he proceed with the interview, the former policeman replied, "Yes, I am seriously considering the possibility."

Malaysiakini learnt that several Australian television stations have approached Sirul, who is now being detained at the Immigration and Border Protection Department's facility in Villawood, Sydney.

However, negotiations between Sirul and the TV stations are still ongoing.

'I acted under orders'

Meanwhile, Sirul also told Malaysiakini that he did not know the murder victim or Abdul Razak Baginda - the political analyst and close associate of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who was discharged with abetting the murder.

"I was under orders. The important people with motive (to murder Altantuya (left)) are still free," he said, declining to elaborate further.

"It is not like I do not love the police (force) or the country, but I acted under orders," he reiterated.

Responding to a question, Sirul said he was doing fine at the immigration detention centre and is allowed access to a mobile phone as well as the Internet.

"I normally read Malaysiakini, Utusan (Malaysia) and Harakah to follow the latest development back home," he added.

The divorced 43-year-old father of two however is worried about his two children, both of whom are teenagers and had to stop schooling as a result of his incarceration.

Made a 'scapegoat'

Last month, Sirul and Azilah were sentenced to death after the Federal Court overturned their acquittal in the murder case.

There were numerous questions pertaining to the case. Chief among them was that the prosecution and courts failed to establish a motive for the grisly murder.

During the onset of the case, Najib, who was then deputy prime minister, swore in the name of God that he had nothing to do with the matter.

His former aide de camp, deputy superintendent Musa Safri, who told Azilah to help Razak Baginda (right) on the night of the murder, was not called to testify in the sensational trial.

During the trial at the Shah Alam High Court, Sirul had caused a stir when he claimed that he was being made a "scapegoat" to "protect their plans".

The former police commando was absent at the Federal Court when the verdict was delivered and news later emerged that he was in Australia.

The government had vowed to file an application to extradite him despite Australian law dictating that a person facing the death penalty in his or her home country cannot be sent back.

MIC man raps party boss for not respecting PM

 

Former MIC treasurer-general R Ramanan has lambasted his party’s president G Palanivel for his “lack of respect” in not attending a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak yesterday.

“His lack of respect for the prime minister and deputy prime minister (Muhyiddin Yassin) is appalling and he even had the audacity to send a representative who wasn’t even part of the 2009 central working committee,” said Ramanan in a statement today.

“What standing does any of Palanivel’s representative have to meet the number one man of Barisan Nasional with regard to this serious party matter?”

Palanivel had accused his deputy S Subramaniam of sidelining the former’s representative in the meeting with Najib yesterday.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/289484

He had sent S Sothinathan as his representative to the meeting with the premier to discuss the issue between MIC and the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Sothinathan, however, was blocked from entering the meeting and was only notified of the proceedings after it ended.

Meanwhile, although Palanivel did not attend the meeting because his wife was “gravely ill”, Ramanan pointed out how he had “miraculously” managed to issue a full-page statement barely minutes after the BN secretary-general (Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor) gave his press conference.

“This is despite him not being at the meeting to know what actually happened.

“The real reason he cowardly backed off from the meeting with his boss was out of fear that he will have to make another U-turn.

“Let us not forget his cowardly behaviour back in 2013 when he ran to the prime minsiter when it suited him to ask for his help to broker a peace deal which allowed him to stay on for one term without there being a contest.”

On Palanivel’s threat against the ROS, Ramanan (right) said the former was not the “interim acting president” of the ROS.

Therefore, he cannot direct the ROS to withdraw its letters, and neither can he suspend or sack them, said Ramanan.

“ROS determines if MIC exists or not and is empowered under Section 18 of the Registrar of Societies Act to safeguard the rights of members of a society under its watch and to make sure that party laws and constitution are strictly adhered to.

“Palanivel’s latest trick is to throw smoke screens to distract people because the ROS in its investigation found the formation of numerous illegal branches, which it called a serious offence under the Societies Act.

“Palanivel, who had been caught red-handed cheating and lying, then proceeded to divert the attention away from the crime that was committed by vilifying the ROS with unfounded accusations.”

The MIC president on Saturday had said he would go to the courts unless the ROS withdraws its letters to the party dated Dec 5, 2014, Dec 31, 2014 and Feb 6, 2015.
 

Subra: CWC to follow RoS directive

MIC president's move to challenge the RoS decision in court is a waste of time as it will destabilise and weaken the party.

FMT

PUTRAJAYA: The MIC 2009 central working committee (CWC) is to abide by the directive of the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and solve the party crisis, party deputy president Dr S. Subramaniam said today.

“We will move through with what was conveyed to us by the RoS to take the party forward,” he said.

The RoS has directed the MIC to hold fresh polls for all elected posts between April and July this year. It also wants the party to clean up its voters’ list and branches established in 2012 as they were the only ones valid for the fresh elections. The RoS had nullified the party elections held in 2013 following complaints of irregularities.

Dr Subramaniam, who is the health minister, was asked by reporters if the CWC could meet and call for an emergency general meeting of the party without the presence of party president G. Palanivel.

Palanivel had said that he wanted to take the RoS to court over the nullification of the 2013 party elections.

Dr Subramaniam, who had earlier launched the MyNutriDiari application at the ministry, said the CWC could convene meetings and was empowered to make decisions as long as there was a quorum.

He stressed that the MIC crisis should be solved as soon as possible so that the party could move forward and focus on helping the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election.

He also said that Palanivel’s move to challenge the RoS decision in court was a waste of time as it would destabilise and weaken the party, and indirectly affect the BN.

“The delayed and prolonged process is an agony, and 2017, 2018 is not far away.

“We need MIC to be active in many places. We need to resolve it as soon as possible and if we delay and resolve it in the end of 2016/2017, it is going to be a big bang on MIC and affect us tremendously,” he said.

Asked if the CWC was going to call for an EGM, Dr Subramaniam said an EGM was an option but he had no power to call for the meeting according to the MIC constitution.

“The constitution says only division chairmen or the CWC can call for an EGM. It is up to them,” he said. The party constitution says the quorum is 15 division chairmen or CWC members.
Asked about Palanivel disagreeing to the proposed BN secretariat to help solve the crisis in the party, Dr Subramaniam said the secretariat was merely to act as a facilitator and not to run the whole elections.

“I was told the whole aim is for the BN to help the party to solve the issue and not to interfere in running the party or elections.

“The power has been given to the 2009 CWC to run the elections. The CWC will do the branch listing and so on,” he said.

Yesterday, Palanivel expressed disagreement with a BN proposal to set up a secretariat to help solve the crisis in the party, describing the proposal as very disturbing.

The BN secretariat proposal came up at a meeting yesterday attended by BN chairman Najib Abdul Razak, BN deputy chairman Muhyiddin Yassin, BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Dr Subramaniam.

Palanivel did not attend the meeting.

Tengku Adnan said today the BN secretariat was just a proposal and it was up to MIC whether they want to accept or reject it.

He said there was no question of the BN wanting to intervene in the affairs of the MIC.

“We only made a proposal. It is up to them. We only wanted to facilitate (to resolve the crisis) and not interfere in the affairs of MIC. We have no interest at all to take over the running of the MIC,” he told reporters after handing over premises licences to budget hotel operators in Kuala Lumpur.

Tengku Adnan said if the MIC did not want to accept the BN proposal, then it would have to abide by the decision of the RoS on fresh elections.

– BERNAMA

Non-Muslims cast wary eye on Syariah Index

The Index, mooted by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, is seen as further evidence of the trend towards creeping Islamisation in the country.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: The Syariah Index, mooted by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to expand the role of Syariah law in Malaysia, is seen by non-Muslims as further evidence of the increasing trend toward Islamisation in the country. Non-Malays including Muslims form slightly less than half the population while the Malays form 50.4 per cent of the population, according to the latest statistics.

The Government is under pressure not only from PAS, the Islamist Opposition, but also from within Umno which leads the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, according to Rian Maelzer in a CCTV report. “Kelantan wants to implement hudud law for criminal offences except rape.”

“Hudud, which prescribes punishments such as amputations and stoning, has won the support of Umno in Kelantan.”

The new Syariah Index will measure Government compliance with Islamic principles in areas such as law, the economy, politics and social issues and highlight areas for improvement.

Many Muslims, according to CCTV, want to see changes in Malaysia’s secular system which accommodates Syariah as family law applying only to Muslims. “Secular laws govern civil and criminal matters.”

There has been talk of a Syariah Apex Court system equal to the civil courts.

“We welcome the Syariah Index because our expectation is to expand Syariah to all fields we have in Malaysia, not only in the financing system, in the family matters, but to cover all aspects of daily life,” Jufitri Joha from Muslim Youth Movement told CCTV.

Political scientist Wong Chin Huat, among those quoted, lamented that the issue was between a “Malaysia for all and one for some”.

Legal experts interviewed pointed out that the secular Federal Constitution would have to be amended to significantly expand the role of the Syariah. “It can only happen if Umno and PAS work together.”

Convert cremated according to Hindu rites

Religious authorities failed to obtain consent of family to collect the body.

FMT

SEREMBAN: The Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Department was unable to prevent a Muslim convert from being cremated by his family according to Hindu rites.

Razak Abdullah @ M Machap, Sinar Harian reported, converted to Islam when he married Kosnibatu Ibrahim, an Indian Muslim, in the 1970s. However, he did not change his religious status at the National Registration Department (NRD).

When Razak, 74, passed away at an old folks home at Taman Bunga Blossom in Negeri Sembilan at 7.30 pm on Sunday, his five children took his body home before the department could claim it.

The department had rushed to Razak’s home in Taman Seremban Jaya in Senawang on Monday but they were too late because the family had already taken the body to a crematorium in Jalan Templer for the final Hindu rites.

“It is all Allah’s will,” said Mohd Zulkarnain Abdullah, an officer with the department.

Zulkarnain disclosed that Razak’s religious status was also stated in the birth certificates of his children as his “Muslim” name was used and he was listed as an Indian Muslim.

DAP’s SSS (Support Sympathy Solidarity) Anwar Ceramah has 3SAVE objectives – to save Anwar from prison, to save Pakatan Rakyat from disintegration and to save Malaysia from becoming a “failed state”

By Lim Kit Siang blog

This is the third DAP SSS (Support Sympathy Solidarity) Anwar Ibrahim Ceramah, the first in Taman Cheras Jaya in Selangor on Sunday and the second at the Han Chiang School Hall in Penang last night.

DAP proposes to organize hundreds of SSS Anwar ceramahs, vigils, gatherings and events throughout the country in the next three years before the 14th General Elections with 3Save objectives – firstly, to save Anwar from prison, secondly to save Pakatan Rakyat from disintegration and thirdly, to save Malaysia from becoming a “failed state”.

Anwar has exhausted the judicial process and lost out when the Federal Court returned a shocking 5-0 unanimous decision to dismiss Anwar’s appeal, as even the most pessimistic about Anwar’s chances believing that he would lose in the Federal Court appeal had expected either a 3-2 verdict or at worst a 4-1 decision.

Everybody was floored by the unanimous 5-0 decision. There were not only no dissenting judgment, there was no other judgment from the five-member Federal Court quorum, apart from the single judgment by the Chief Justice, Tun Arifin Zakaria!

Anwar may have lost in the courts of the Malaysian judiciary, but he has won two battles in the first week of his five-year jail sentence – firstly, the court of public opinion in Malaysia and secondly, the court of international opinion, as it will not be easy to find another Federal Court judgment in the past two decades which had met with such instant universal condemnation, not only inside the country but also outside.

Foreign governments like United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland (which declared that it would raise Anwar’s jailing at the next meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva), the European Union; international legal, parliamentary and human rights organisations like the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights, LAWASIA and the Law Council of Australia and international press like Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the Economist have all spoken up to condemn the Federal Court decision.

Anwar’s case ranks with two other cases in Malaysia as the top trio which embodied the greatest travesty of justice.
The second case is the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The latest news in Malaysiakini today is about former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar, who is a fugitive in Australia from the hangman’s noose after being found guilty together with another former police commando Azilah Hadri, of the 2006 murder of Altantuya, whose remains were blown up with C4 explosives.

Malaysiakini reported that in a telephone conversation, Sirul said he is considering the possibility of “telling all” about the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, as he was “acting under orders” in the murder of Altantuya and “the important people” with motive to murder Altatunya “are still free”.

Although the courts did not establish the motive for the murder of Altantuya when convicting Sirul and Azila of the murder and handing down the death sentence for both, public interests demand that the motive for the Altantuya be probed and established as both police commandos have not known Altantuya in the first place and have no motive of their own to kill her.

I belive that most Malaysians believe that if Sirul and Azila have to be sent to the gallows for the murder of Altantuya, it will be a gross travesty of justice if the “mastermind” of Altantuya’s murder gets away scot-free as this “mastermind” must join Sirul and Azila in the death row.
The third case is the death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock at the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009, which remains a mystery as nobody believed that Beng Hock had any cause or reason to commit suicide by jumping off the 14th floor of MACC headquarters to his death.

I stand by what I said at Teoh Beng Hock’s fifth death anniversary, that he was killed by person or persons unknown and his killers are still large, and justice demand that Beng Hock’s killer or killers be identified and brought to justice.

The first objective SSS Anwar campaign is to “Save Anwar” who is facing ten-year political oblivion, i.e. five years of jail sentence followed by another five years of disenfranchisement of his civil rights, where he could not stand for elective office or even to exercise his constitutional right to vote.

If the voters stand united and vote out the UMNO/Barisan Nasional from Putrajaya in the 14th General Election and the Pakatan Rakyat forms the new Federal Government of Malaysia, then the conditions will be there for Anwar to regain his freedom and even to fulfil his destiny as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The second SSS Anwar objective is to “Save Pakatan Rakyat”. UMNO strategists see the death of Tok Guru Nik Aziz, as the opportunity to revive their “Unity Government” (UG) proposal to destroy the Pakatan Rakyat, as during his lifetime Nik Aziz had uncompromisingly opposed any idea of UG.

This is why UMNO and BN leaders want the Chempaka by-election to be uncontested purportedly as a mark of respect for Nik Aziz while they will go out in the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election in Penang.

This is indeed a most astounding turn of events, for UMNO to talk about showing respect to Nik Aziz when for 23 years, UMNO and Barisan Nasional had discriminated against the PAS Kelantan state government in terms of infrastructure development, and the most heinous example is the denial of RM12 billion oil and gas royalty to the Kelantan State Government from 2005.

If UMNO really respects Nik Aziz, then Najib should immediately announce the return of the RM12 billion oil and gas royalty to the Kelantan State Government.

The return of RM12 billion of oil and gas royalty to Kelantan State Government would work out to returning RM7,000 per capita to the 1.7 million population of Kelantan, which is not a small amount considering that the per capita GDP at current prices of Kelantan is the lowest and poorest in the country – in the region of RM10,000.

The return of RM12 billion oil and gas royalty to Kelantan is more meaningful than just UMNO staying out of the Chempaka state assembly by-election in Kelantan, as ther latter will only allow the UMNO conspirators to continue to hatch their strategies and plots to divide and destroy Pakatan Rakay by luring PAS with the temptations of “Unity Government”.

I remain very intrigued however as what the promoters of “UG government” really meant, when it is obvious to all that there is no unity in UMNO itself, with former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir going all out to topple Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Umno President and Prime Minister of Malaysia.
In fact, many are openly asking whether Najib could survive this year or even mid-year as Prime Minister in view of escalation of the internal UMNO campaign to bring him down from the highest office in the land.

To save Pakatan Rakyat, I have mooted the proposal of an Eight-Year PR Roadmap where the three PR component parties of DAP, PKR and PAS “return to basics” and reaffirm commitment to the two fundamental principles which had been the secrets of the PR success in the 2008 and 2013 General Elections – strict adherence to the PR Common Policy Framework which had formed the bedrock common principles of the three component parties in the coalition, and the operational principle of consensus regarding the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council as the highest policy-making body for PR.

If we stay loyal to these two fundamental principles, I am confident that PR stands a good chance of replacing UMNO and BN in Putrajaya in the 14th General Elections, creating the conditions for saving Anwar to enable him to meet his destiny as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The third SSS Anwar objective is to “Save Malaysia” from joining the ranks of a “failed state”.

Two days ago I met a Malaysian returning home from Singapore for the Chinese New Year holidays. There are about 400 employees in the Singapore office of Microsoft, and 80 per cent of them are Malaysians.

Other countries are scouring the world for talents to lure them to contribute to their national development, but for decades Malaysia had been driving away our talents and youths overseas because they cannot find comparative employment and recognition in their own country.

The continued educational, economic and environmental decline in the country, the worsening of racial and religious polarization with the rise of extremism, bigotry and intolerance and the unchecked deterioration of all the indices of good governance, are threatening to turn Malaysia into a new “failed state”.

We must not allow this to happen as Malaysia continues to hold the promise of greatness with the human talents from a plural society and the natural resources that we are blessed with – which is why Malaysians must unite for the third SSS Anwar objective to “Save Malaysia”.

(Speech at the third DAP SSS (Support Sympathy Solidarity) Anwar ceramah at Gurun, Kedah on Tuesday, 17th February 2015 at 10 pm)

Malaysia is 'partly free' in human rights report

The Sun
by Lee Choon Fai

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia was given a "partly free" rating in human rights report, Freedom in the World 2015, along with a downward trend due to the government's frequent use of the Sedition Act last year.

The report by international rights group Freedom House involving 195 countries also noted uses of defamation law to silence critics and also the harassment that Shi'ite Muslims are subjected to.

"Malaysia received a downward trend arrow due to the government's use of the Sedition Act to intimidate political opponents, an increase in arrests and harassment of Shi'ite Muslims and transgender Malaysians, and more extensive use of defamation laws to silence independent or critical voices," the report said.

From a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being most free and 7 being the worst, Malaysia received a score of 4 or "partly free" for both political rights and civil liberties with declining rights noted with a downward trend arrow.

Singapore also received a score of 4 for both political rights and civil liberties, while Thailand saw a significant decline and received a score of 6 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties, and Indonesia received 2 for political rights and 4 for civil liberties.

Countries achieving a perfect score of 1 for both political rights and civil liberties included Japan, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Czech Republic, Germany, France and New Zealand, among others.

Countries that were awarded the worst possible score of 7 for both categories included North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Tibet.

Government To Enhance Efficiency Of Services For All Communities - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 (Bernama) -- The government will continue to enhance the efficiency and integrity of its services to assist all communities, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Tuesday.

It would continue to serve the 1Malaysia commitment of a united nation as the country neared Vision 2020, he said.

In his 2015 Chinese New Year message posted on his blog, NajibRazak.com, the prime minister said the Lunar New Year was one of the biggest celebrations in the country as it signified the turn of the Chinese calendar and the beginning of a new chapter in life.

He said it was the time when family and friends came together in celebration and in gratitude to appreciate the old and embrace the new.

"Today, we are all guests...welcomed into the homes of our Chinese neighbours, in the true spirit of 1Malaysia, to experience the rich traditions of the Chinese culture.

"My family and I have always appreciated the hospitality of Chinese Malaysians, particularly at this time of year," he said.

The Chinese New Year reminded the people of the diversity that made Malaysia extraordinary, he said, adding that the fabric of the country had been woven by the various ethnicities, languages and faiths that completed the nation.

"It is this diversity that we celebrate, cherish and protect," he said.

Najib welcomed visitors to the country during the festive season, saying: "Wherever you might find yourself in our beautiful country, I hope the distinct sights, sounds, smells and tastes of our revelry will inspire you."

Despite the challenges of last year, Chinese New Year represented a new beginning for Malaysia, Najib said and expressed the hope that the year of the peace-loving Goat would bring continued harmony and strength in unity for Malaysia.

"And may the year of the Goat also bring each of you happiness, prosperity and good health. Happy New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai," he said.

Source: Slain suspect in Copenhagen attacks just out of jail

By JAN M. OLSEN and KARL RITTER

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - The slain gunman behind two deadly shooting attacks in Copenhagen was released from jail just two weeks ago and might have become radicalized there last summer, a source close to the Danish terror investigation told The Associated Press on Monday.

Two Danish sources close to the investigation confirmed to the AP that the slain gunman was named Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Copenhagen police have not named the gunman, who they said was a 22-year-old Dane with a history of violence and g
ang connections. Several Danish media have already named him.

One source told the AP that El-Hussein had been in pre-trial detention for a long time but was released two weeks ago. He also said the corrections authority had alerted Danish security service PET last year after they noticed worrisome changes in El-Hussein's behavior last summer.

He wouldn't give specifics but said such alerts are issued when inmates change their attitude or behavior in way that "sets off alarm bells."

PET spokeswoman Lotte Holmstrup declined to comment on the report, saying "we are working on finding out what has happened."

PET director Jens Madsen on Sunday confirmed that the gunman was known to the agency before the weekend attacks in Copenhagen that killed two people and wounded five police officers. He said the gunman may have been inspired by last month's terror attacks by Islamic extremists in Paris that killed 17 people, but did not elaborate on when his agency began tracking him.

The news about the suspected gunman came as Danes mourned the victims of the country's first fatal terror attacks in 30 years - and, in an unusual development, some also put flowers on the street at the spot where police killed El-Hussein. The prime ministers of Denmark and Sweden were expected to join thousands of people at memorials in Copenhagen on Monday evening.

While a Danish court on Monday jailed two suspected accomplices of El-Hussein's for 10 days, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt insisted there were no signs the gunman had any links to a wider terror cell.

"But we will, of course, in the coming time evaluate our fight against radicalization. We are already doing a lot," she said.

In November 2013, police distributed photos of El-Hussein because he was wanted for a stabbing on a subway train in Copenhagen. At the time, police said he stabbed a 19-year-old man in his left thigh with a large knife.

It wasn't immediately clear whether he was in pre-trial detention for that crime.

Investigators on Monday released more information about the gunman's movements between the attacks, one Saturday afternoon at a cultural center and another early Sunday outside a synagogue, both in Copenhagen.

Police spokesman Joergen Skov said the gunman visited an Internet cafe late Saturday, about six-and-a-half hours after the first attack. Police raided the facility on Sunday and detained four people, including the two men arraigned on Monday, Skov said. The other two were released.

Investigators released new images of El-Hussein and asked witnesses who had seen him enter or leave the Internet cafe to contact police.

"We are of course interested in whether he was alone and whether he was carrying anything and in which direction he went," Skov said.

Denmark's red-and-white flag flew at half-staff from official buildings across the capital Monday. Mourners placed flowers and candles at the cultural center where documentary filmmaker Finn Noergaard, 55, was killed and at the synagogue where Dan Uzan, a 37-year-old security guard, was gunned down.

There was also a smaller mound of flowers where the gunman was slain, which critics said was an insult to his victims. Ozlem Cekic, lawmaker of the left-wing Socialist People's Party, called it "a huge assault on the Danish population."

Denmark has been targeted by a series of foiled terror plots since the 2005 publication of 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper. The cartoons triggered riots in many Muslim countries and militant Islamists called for vengeance.

"I want to underline that this is not a conflict between Islam and the West," Thorning-Schmidt said. "This is a conflict between the core values of our society and violent extremists."

One of the participants in the free speech event targeted Saturday was Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who caricatured the prophet in 2007. Vilks, who was whisked away unharmed by his bodyguards, told the AP he thought he was the intended target of that attack.

Other participants said they dropped to the floor, looking for places to hide as the shooting started. The gunman never entered the center but sprayed it with bullets from outside in a gun battle with police.

World leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, condemned the Copenhagen attacks.

"The terrorist attacks have the same causes in Paris and Copenhagen," Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Monday as she visited Copenhagen in a show of solidarity. "Our cities are symbols of democracy, Paris and Copenhagen. We are here and we are not afraid."

Denmark's last deadly terror attack took place in 1985, when a bomb exploded outside the Copenhagen office of airline North West Orient, killing a 27-year-old Algerian tourist.

AP journalist Philipp-Moritz Jenne contributed to this report.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Man charged over 'chemical weapon'

A man from Liverpool has been charged with attempting to obtain a chemical weapon, police have said.

Mohammed Ammer Ali, 31, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London on Tuesday.

He was arrested on Wednesday, when officers from North West Counter Terrorism Unit and Merseyside Police searched five Merseyside addresses.

Officers have uncovered no plan or threat of an imminent attack either at home or abroad, police said.

The suspect is accused of attempting to have a chemical weapon in his possession between January 10 and February 12, contrary to the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 and the Chemical Weapons Act 1996.

Former students of Najib’s alma mater tell him to stop extremism

Another group of Malaysians has penned an open letter to Datuk Seri Najib Razak calling for an end to extremism, this time by 58 former students of St John's Institution in Kuala Lumpur, where the prime minister himself had studied.

The alumni of the renowned mission school from the class of 1975 urged the country's leadership to take a strong position against racism, religious bigotry and extremism, and themselves pledged to "always walk on the path of moderation".

"As patriotic citizens we will not allow any form of destructive extremism, divisiveness and racial or religious turmoil to be planted in our country.

"In this context too, we plead with our leadership, rulers and law-abiding citizens to stand up against extremism," the 58 Johanians said in their open letter, which carried all their names.

The group expressed concerns that extremist views were increasingly widespread and said it was "not the way forward for Malaysia".

"We believe that any form of extremist viewpoints as championed by those bent on racism and religious bigotry should be condemned," they said.

The group also said that Malaysia would be disadvantaged politically, economically, financially and socially, if extremism was allowed unabated, and noted that Malaysia enjoyed a degree of harmony, progress and moderation that had given the country a "lead advantage" in the region.

Stressing that the way forward for Malaysia was moderation, they urged leaders from both sides of the political divide and from civil society to keep Malaysia a "nation of moderates".

The letter by the St John's alumni echoes another open letter to Najib written last year by a group of prominent retired Malay civil servants, now known as the G25.

The 25 eminent Malays took a stand for moderation and urged the government to allow rational dialogue on Islam and its position in the country and application in law and public policy. The group is now in the midst of seeking a meeting with Najib.

The 58 Johanians said the Federal Constitution should be upheld as a "sacred covenant" that cemented the bonds of nationhood between all Malaysians.

They also lauded the diversity of Malaysia's multi-religious heritage, cultures and traditions, which they said were "tested, proven and vibrant" in preserving moderation.

"Our rich heritage has also proven (to be) the success factor throughout our history of nationhood, and we Johanians stand by it," they said. – February 16, 2015.

Chief justice warns those who make unfounded attacks against judiciary

Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria has issued a stern warning to the public that appropriate action will be taken against those who tarnish the image and dignity of the judiciary.

His warning came in the wake of criticisms levelled at the judiciary after the Federal Court last week upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal in finding Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim guilty of sodomy.

Arifin said the judiciary was open to criticism but will not tolerate unfounded allegation in the social media and at public forums.

"We view with seriousness such conduct and will not hesitate to act?'" he said in his speech during the elevation of four judges to superior courts at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya today.

Arifin said any baseless criticism against the bench would weaken the administration of justice and erode public confidence in the institution.

He said due to advancement in technology, many displayed their opinions and comments to what was happening around them in social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.

Arifin said their remarks had wide following although some were unjustified and could be questioned.

He said it was the responsibility of everyone to protect the image and dignity of the bench so that the administration of justice was unhindered.

"In this regard, I urge, especally the lawyers not to act in a way that they side step the rule of law to channel their dissatisfaction on court judgments," he added.

He said the public must also be careful and responsible in their opinions and comments on social media because of the wide repercussions.

Arifin, who last week led a five-man panel to uphol the conviction of Anwar for sodomy was coy when asked if committal proceeding will be instituted against the opposition leader for attacking the judiciary.

"That one I do not know. It is a different matter," Arifin told reporters after attending the elevation ceremony today of four judges to the superior courts.

Accordng to procedure, it is the judiciary that will have to begin proceedings since the incident happened in the court room.

He said he did not hear what Anwar uttered from the dock as he had suspended the proceeding.

"My approach is when what is uttered is not fair, I just adjourn the proceeding to calm the tense atmosphere. I did not bolt from the bench," he added.

He said he had no personal grudge against anyone and that he wanted to do his duty with utmost sincerety.

Anwar's outburst was witnessed by those in the packed court room before Arifin could decide on the sentence to be imposed.

Arifin, who delivered the 116-page judgment had earlier ruled that Anwar’ was guilty of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.

Anwar attacked the bench for "bowing to their political masters and becoming partners in crime in the murder of the judiciary".

Anwar told the bench there was something amiss when the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement barely minutes after his conviction was upheld.

"In bowing to political masters they have disgraced themselves and have become partners in crime in the murder of the judiciary," Anwar said, before Arifin asked lead defence counsel Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram to tell Anwar to stop.

But Sri Ram told Arifin that his client had the right to address the court, to which Arifin retorted, "yes, on the appeal but not to condemn the court".

But the opposition leader continued attacking the judiciary, adding "you had the opportunity to right the wrong but you chose to remain on the dark side".

At this juncture, Arifin and the rest of the bench members walked out.

Anwar continued to speak and shouted into the microphone: "I will again, for the third time, walk into prison but with my head held high.

"I will not be silent and will fight for freedom and justice and will never surrender," Anwar said.

The bench convened later only to affirm the 5-year jail term imposed by the Court of Appeal last year. – February 16, 2015

CJ denies he 'cabut' when Anwar opened fire in court

Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria has denied fleeing the courtroom when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim launched a scathing attack on him and four other judges when the Federal Court upheld the latter's conviction.

"Whenever I feel it is not fair, I leave or adjourn the hearing to cool off the atmosphere. I 'bukan cabut' (did not flee)," he told reporters in Putrajaya.

The top judicial officer also said that he did not hear what the PKR de facto leader said.

Asked if he felt slighted by the comments, Arifin (left) replied: "I have no personal (feelings) for anyone (in the dock). I do it (execute his duties) based on sincerity," he added.

To questions whether there would be committal proceedings against Anwar following his statement during mitigation, the chief justice claimed that he did not know.

"That is a different matter," he said.

Committal proceedings are normally instituted by the prosecution or lawyers and not the judiciary.

Prior to sentencing, Arifin and the judges vacated the courtroom when Anwar lambasted them from the dock, accusing them of colluding with their "political masters".

Last Tuesday, the apex court dismissed the opposition leader’s appeal against his sodomy conviction.

Anwar has always maintained that the charge was fabricated by his political rivals, which the government has denied.

Palanivel claims deputy blocked rep from PM meet

 

The spat in MIC has reached new heights, with president G Palanivel accusing his deputy S Subramaniam of sidelining the former’s representative in a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak this morning.

Palanivel - who could not attend the meeting himself because he was caught up with an emergency concerning his wife - had sent S Sothinathan as his representative to the meeting with the premier to discuss the issue between MIC and the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Sothinathan (right), however, was blocked from entering the meeting and only notified of the proceedings after it ended.

“Sothinathan was not allowed to be in the meeting, and only the deputy president was met by the prime minister and others present.

“He was only informed of the proposals - but more like decisions - as announced by (Federal Territories Minister) Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor after their meeting with the deputy president,” Palanivel said in a statement today.

He also flayed Subramaniam for allegedly "selling out" to third parties who seek to intervene in MIC matters.

“The deputy president of MIC may be willing to allow third parties (BN) to run MIC and lose our self-dignity and respect, but I will not.

“BN has no jurisdiction whatsoever to take over the administration of the party elections in direct contradiction to the provisions of the MIC constitution, as well as the Societies Act 1966.

“I am still shocked that the deputy president can agree, in my absence, to let others run MIC. It is totally disgusting the extent that one can go to further one’s political agenda,” Palanivel - who is also the natural resources and environment minister - added.

'Palani prolonging crisis'

Meanwhile, Subramaniam in a separate statement, shot back at Palanivel, blaming him for the current crisis that MIC is in.

“Palani's statement questioning my committment to uphold the party’s image and dignity is unwarranted. I would like to remind Palanivel that he is responsible for all the party’s current problems.

“Many of the irregularities of the party election can be directly or indirectly related to him. His inability and refusal to address the issue has led to the current crisis,” the health minister said.

Palanivel’s accusation of Subramaniam (left) allowing third parties to intervene in MIC politics also warranted a further tongue-lashing from the deputy president.

“His decision to take this matter to court is an attempt to prolong the crisis and further destabilise the party.

“It is absolutely disgusting how the president has procrastinated on this issue and has allowed something which could have been solved easily in the early days to become such a major problem affecting all members of the party and necessitating third party interventions,” said Subramaniam.

He added that in the meeting that took place this morning, BN was "acting as facilitators in mediating in areas of dispute".

Court finds police and gov’t liable for killing

 

The Ipoh Sessions Court today found the police and government liable for the killing of a gold trader.

Chen Fun Kee was shot to death by police officer Mohd Taufik Peter Abdullah on Sept 16, 2009 outside his workplace in Ipoh.

M Kulasegaran, who represented Chen’s family, had named Mohd Taufik, the Perak police chief and the government as defendants.

During the trial, the police distanced themselves from Mohd Taufik, arguing that the killing was a “frolic of his own doing”.

However, Ipoh Sessions Judge Sunita Kaur Jessy today ruled that Mohd Taufik was on duty during the time of the incident and the police and government are therefore liable.

Kualasegaran, who is also DAP’s Ipoh Barat MP, hailed the decision as a “further victory” for an innocent man killed by police.

Mohd Taufik has been charged with murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

A young man of only 42 years was robbed of his life and thus the continuous care and support to this family has been permanently cut off.

“The killing of this innocent man has deprived him of his life. The police must accept responsibility,” said Kulasegaran in a statement today.

He added that the court has fixed March 13 to assess damages to be awarded to Chen’s family.

How can Ambiga be cited for contempt, Shafee?

 

COMMENT Charge Ambiga Sreenevasan with contempt of court?

Seriously? Is this coming from a man who managed to put opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim through his own legal brilliance? I cringed when I read the article about Umno-linked lawyer Shafee Abdullah planning to cite Ambiga with contempt of court.

In the first place, it is obvious that Ambiga Sreeneevasan, a former Bar Council president, was merely asking the question, “Are the courts BN?”

In basic English, this is a question. It  is not a statement. Ambiga was merely asking a question, while most of us reading the question believe we already have the answer. How then could Ambiga be cited for contempt of court, my dear Shafee (left)?

When we were discussing over this article in Malaysiakini, a friend quipped: “Really? Is this contempt, contempt charge coming from a qualified lawyer? Where did he finish his law studies? Is he a junior legal assistant with some firm or what?”

I had to correct his impression. This is a veteran lawyer. He appears to be linked with a number of Umno cases. I told him, too, that I am amused by such caricatures when I see them in our courts and there is no wonder why cartoonist Zunar has a lot to capture on paper.

Since when are questions banned?

I am wondering since when, in a democratic country like ours, have we not been allowed to question the decision of even the highest courts, what more to raise a question as relevant as Ambiga’s: “Are the courts BN?”

Based on the way how Anwar’s Sodomy II case was conducted from Day One to the day when he was sent to prison, everyone has been asking the same question raised by Ambiga.

A former US ambassador to Malaysia, John Malott (right), had even gone all the way to create an open petition to the president of the United States of America, and I quote Malott’s petition statement:

“Anwar is a political prisoner. The future of democracy in Malaysia is at stake. Securing Anwar's release from prison must be a top priority in US policy towards Malaysia, to be advanced in every way possible.”

To date, some 51,000 people around the world have attested to that. It is still short of 49,000 signatures in order to reach the 100,000 mark in oder to capture President Barack Obama’s attention.

Therefore, what Ambiga had said in her speech pales by comparison. Anwar’s jail sentence for the next five years was something most people had expected, but for someone to further carry out a character assassination of Anwar or to put a suggestion into the mouth of another person, and citing her for contempt of court, can only happen in one’s wildest imagination.

According to Professor Gurdial Singh Nijhar, Shafee has not conducted himself properly as a legal practitioner. This is something which I believe the Bar Council’s president, Christopher Leong has to pick up to carry out an investigation against Shafee in order to protect the good name of the profession.

Leong should also include this accusation that Shafee had made against Ambiga, which I view as being very serious; if not addressed to quickly, will only damage the reputation of the legal profession in this country. Don’t you think so?

---

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.

Case against Najib, Rosmah may never take off

Americk says objections deliberately raised to “wear out my client financially".

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: The family of the late P Balasubramanian may never get the chance to prove their case that they were the victims of a tortious conspiracy involving Prime Minister Najib Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor and seven others, which forced them to leave Malaysia for almost five years between 2008 and 2013.

According to a report in the Malaysian Insider today, Americk Sidhu, the lawyer of Balasubramanian’s wife Santamil, is alleging that the respondents have raised certain objections to the effect that the appeal was defective and ought not to be heard on its merits.

One of the objections was that the family ought to have filed seven separate notices of appeal since the defendants had separate law firms acting for them and each law firm had filed a separate striking out application.

According to Americk, only one notice was filed because the High Court had delivered one decision on December 11 last year which had disposed of all the applications.

Refuting the suggestion that multiple notices ought to have been filed, Americk said, “This is absurd and is an attempt to wear out my client financially because every notice of appeal must be accompanied by RM1,000.00 in deposit.”

“I will raise this issue before the Court of Appeal Registrar to ensure her appeal is heard without any hindrance,” he added.

Balasubramanian was the private investigator caught up in events leading to the October 2006 murder of Mongolian socialite Altantuya Shaariibuu and had famously affirmed two statutory declarations one day apart from each other under circumstances which have yet to be satisfactorily explained.

In a lengthy first Statutory Declaration which he affirmed on July 1, 2008, Bala had suggested that Najib and Abdul Razak Baginda had known Altantuya and may have been involved in events immediately preceding her murder.

He, however, retracted the entire contents of that statutory declaration in a statutory declaration which he affirmed the very next day claiming that it had been made under “inducement and threat”.

Bala passed away on May 15, 2013, only two months after he and his family returned from exile.

The lawsuit was commenced by his family in the High Court June 2014, despite the fact that no letters of administration had been issued in respect of his estate at the time.

In striking the suit without trial, High Court Judge Hasnah Mohamed Hashim held that the family had no locus standi in the absence of letters of administration. She also held that the particulars of conspiracy pleaded were insufficient to give rise to a reasonable cause of action.

The family’s appeal is presently before the Court of Appeal.

The other defendants named in the suit were Najib’s brothers Ahmad Johari Abdul Razak and Mohd Nazim Abdul Razak, three lawyers – Cecil Abraham, Sunil Abraham and M Arunapalam, as well as Zainal Abidin Muhayat, a commissioner for oaths.

BN secretariat to handle MIC polls

It will consist of BN executive secretary and the members from non-Indian BN component parties such as MCA and Gerakan.

FMT

PUTRAJAYA: A high-level meeting today proposed the setting up of a special secretariat by the Barisan Nasional (BN) to help the crisis-plagued MIC to clean up its divisions and branches and hold fresh party elections, said BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

It was proposed that the secretariat be chaired by BN executive secretary Abu Khamis and its members be drawn from non-Indian BN component parties such as MCA and Gerakan, he said.

Tengku Adnan said the proposal was made at a meeting attended by BN chairman Najib Abdul Razak; BN deputy chairman Muhyiddin Yassin; MIC deputy president Dr S. Subramaniam and himself.

He said MIC president G. Palanivel did not attend the meeting, held at the Prime Minister’s Office, but sent a text message to Najib saying that his wife had chest pains.

Palanivel sent MIC vice-president S. Sothinathan to represent him, but the latter was not allowed into the meeting.

“The proposal was accepted by Dr Subramaniam. Palanivel has yet to state his agreement. We hope that the matter can be agreed to by today,” Tengku Adnan told a special news conference here.

He said the BN top leadership wanted to meet with only Palanivel and Dr Subramaniam, and not Sothinathan, to help resolve the MIC crisis.

“After the meeting, I informed Sothinathan, who was waiting outside the meeting room, of the proposal to set up the secretariat. He said the proposal would make the president powerless.”

Tengku Adnan said it was also proposed that the MIC 2009 central working committee (CWC) be taken into account until the fresh elections, and that all the nine president-appointed posts in the 2009 CWC not be considered.

“It was also proposed that during the period of the fresh elections, the president cannot appoint anyone to the nine posts,” he said.

– BERNAMA

Malaysia’s worst week ever for credibility and integrity of the administration of justice in the country

By Lim Kit Siang Blog,

The past week starting with the Federal Court’s dismissal of Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II appeal on Tuesday 10th February is likely to be the country’s worst week ever for credibility and integrity of the administration of justice in Malaysia.

The Federal Court’s 5-0 unanimous decision to dismiss Anwar’s appeal has come as a great surprise, even to those who had never entertained high hopes that Anwar could get off unscathed in his latest encounter with selective and even malicious prosecution.

But even the most pessimistic had expected either a 3-2 verdict or at worst a 4-1 decision, but everybody was floored by a unanimous 5-0 judgment.

What further stumped the legal and judicial fraternity, as well as the general public, was that there was only judgment by the Chief Justice, Tun Arifin Zakaria, when the public expectation was more than one judgment, even five judgments!

It will not be easy to find another Federal Court judgment in the past two decades which had met with such instant universal condemnation, not only inside the country but outside – by foreign governments like United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland (which declared that it would raise Anwar’s jailing at the next meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva), the European Union; international legal, parliamentary human rights organisations like the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights, LAWASIA and the Law Council of Australia and international press like Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the Economist.

But the greatest disservice to the credibility and integrity of the administration of justice, and in particular whether there is true independence of judiciary and just rule of law, came from the Prime Minister’s in 109 words in three-paragraph statement on Feb. 10, which said:

“The judges will have reached their verdict only after considering all the evidence in a balanced and objective manner. Malaysia has an independent judiciary, and there have been many rulings against senior government servants.

“The police report against Anwar Ibrahim was brought by a private individual – Anwar’s employee and personal assistant – not by the government. As the victim of a sexual assault, he had every right to have his case heard in court.

“In this case, exhaustive and comprehensive due process has been followed over many years. That process is now complete, and we call on all the parties involved to respect the legal process and the judgment.”

Even the worst enemies of the country could not have conceived of an ultra weapon like the 109-word three-paragraph Prime Minister’s Office statement to discredit the administration of justice, the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Malaysia.

The 109-word three-paragraph Prime Minister’s Office Statement not only peddled false notions and baseless assumptions about the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, but worst of all, it punctured the myth about the presence a truly independent judiciary and the just rule of law in Malaysia.

The PMO office statement issued before the completion of the “exhaustive and comprehensive due process” in Anwar’s Sodomy II trial is in fact the “smoking gun” of Executive violation of the doctrine of separation of powers and interference with the judicial independence and the rule of law.

A judgment from the highest court of the land must be able to stand or fall on its inherent logic and cogency and superiority in its reasoning and arguments, but when the Executive had to be called in to shore up support as calling on Malaysians to “respect the legal process and the judgment”, there is indeed something very rotten with administration of justice in the country!

It is not only the decision of the Federal Court and the integrity of the judiciary which came under intense scrutiny and criticism, the senior lawyer who became Prosecutor under fiat, Tan Sri Muhamad Shafee Abdullah and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail were also subjected to severe criticisms.

Former attorney-general Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman called for Shafee’s fiat as public prosecutor to be be revoked, especially after Shafee’s continued attacks on Anwar Ibrahim after the Opposition’s conviction and sentencing.
Abu Talib said Shafee’s disparaging remarks about Anwar after the case was settled was most inappropriate and merely lend credence to the perception that Anwar’s case was politically motivated.

Shafee is only bringing the office of Public Prosecutor into disrepute when he reacted to criticisms of former Bar Council chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan by suggesting that she be charged with contempt of court for criticising the judiciary’s decision on Anwar’s case.

Will Shafee next suggest that Malaysia break diplomatic relations with countries which are highly critical about the Federal Court decision on Anwar’s case and declare principal officials of international organisations like ICJ, IPU, Amnesty International which continue to be highly critical of the Federal Court’s decision on Anwar as persona non grata?

Today, there is a call for the Attorney-General Gani Patail to be sacked for abusing his powers by “hiding” an Order to Investigate (OTI) on Shafee and continuing to appoint the latter as a prosecutor in Anwar’s Sodomy II trial.

Former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim had filed a police report on Feb 7, three days before Anwar’s conviction, urging Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to exercise his authority over Gani.

Mat Zain said Najib should set up a tribunal to impeach Gani from the AG’s post
as Gani continued to appoint Shafee to head the prosecuting team for Anwar’s Sodomy II appeal, despite the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) itself having signed the OTI dated Jan 3, 2014.

Mat Zain said that he only found out about the OTI on May 19, 2014, when the police called him to Putrajaya to have his statement recorded in relation to three police reports he made on Dec 15, 18 and 26, 2013.

Mat Zain’s allegations are serious and cannot be ignored by the Prime Minister.

The idiom “It never rains, but it pours” is appropriate to describe the plight of the administration of justice, particularly with regard to whether there is true independence of judiciary and just rule of law in Malaysia.

Will there continue to be inelegant silence from the Prime Minister on the national and international crisis of confidence of the Malaysian judiciary and rule of law?

Tunku would not have tolerated racism, says granddaughter

Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year may be the focal points of February, but few may remember that this month also marks the birth of the man who led Malaya to independence and who later became the founding prime minister of Malaysia.

Born on February 9, 1903, Tunku played a pivotal role in freeing the country from colonial masters, his years-long struggle for Merdeka immortalised in Malaysia's history books and documents.

In conjunction with Tunku's 112th birthday this year, The Malaysian Insider recently interviewed his granddaughter, YM Sharifah Menjelara Hussien, or Lara, as she prefers to be called.

Tunku, whom Lara fondly referred to as "Tok", would never have compromised with racism and would have put a stop to the racial politics in this country, if he were still alive, she said.

"Tok would not have compromised with racism. He was a leader for everyone, and had in the past said every race in this country had contributed to Malaya," she told The Malaysian Insider.

"He also said the independence we achieved was not through his efforts alone, but that of other leaders from among the Chinese, Malay and Indian communities.

"Everyone united to achieve the dream that became a reality in 1957," she said, referring to Malaya's independence that year. Malaysia was only formed in 1963 with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore which left after two years.

Lara, who now works at a major local advertising firm, said although Tunku's dream had taken years for him to realise, he would never forget the other leaders who fought by his side.

"So how could he support racial politics when independence was achieved through everyone's efforts?" she said.

Tunku would constantly remind the public that Malaysia's strength lay in the people's unity, and that Malaysians should not allow their differences to tear them apart.

"If that happens, we will fall," said Lara as she recalled her grandfather's words to her.

She added that Tunku had wanted Malaysia to become a model country in the eyes of the world, and to prove Malaysians could live harmoniously with one another in spite of their diversity.

She said her grandfather would be proud of what Malaysia had achieved so far.

"He may be taken aback at how many of the roads in the country are named after the figures who fought for independence.

"But I believe Tok would always care about his rakyat's happiness and unity which he fought for."

Lara said that when the Union Jack was taken down and the national flag of Malaya was raised for the first time to signify the country's independence, Tunku considered all six million citizens as his family.

Lara noted that Toh Puan Umarsundari Sambanthan had once said: "Beside my own father, Tunku is also my father. Regardless of race and religion, he still had time for us".

Umarsundari was the wife of Tun V.T.Sambanthan, one of the nation's founding fathers along with Tunku, and also the fifth president of the Indian-based party, MIC.

"I always believe that each society and culture is a reflection of its leader. If the leader is humble and trustworthy, this is reflected in society," said Lara.

"Justice was the backbone of Tok's leadership. I heard a story on how he had given his jacket to a beggar because the man had no clothes."

Among Tunku's advice to her was that nothing was more valuable in this country than its diversity.

"Politicians come and go, but the country will live on. So let us remember his words: 'without this country and the rakyat of Malaysia, I am nothing'." – February 15, 2015.