‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers’

The Sun
by Sunil Lopez

"THE first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers." This phrase from Shakespeare’s Henry VI is often used pejoratively when people feel the need to vent their feelings of frustration or disgust in respect of the legal profession. Ironically, this now infamous phrase was originally intended to pay homage to lawyers. In Shakespeare’s play, the phrase was spoken by a villain and to better understand the context in which the phrase was used, we need to paraphrase it as follows, the first thing any potential tyrant must do to eliminate freedom and the rule of law is to kill all the lawyers.

Enough about Shakespeare and merry old England for now. Let’s return to Malaysia and the drama that unfolded in Brickfields, where on May 7, five lawyers were arrested. The "Brickfields Five" (as I shall refer to them) had each received a call that their legal services were needed. Much like Batman and Robin, they rushed to the Brickfields police station. When they got there, they may have initially been a little confused as to who the actual perpetrators were but it did not take them long to figure things out. It wasn’t that hard to figure out who was the leader of the gang. He had an inhumanly loud voice and was clothed in a shirt which had the words "Head Hunters" emblazoned on it. In another twist of irony, his shirt was black in colour.

The "Headhunter" was at the top of his game. He seemed unstoppable and invincible. He possessed formidable powers, the inhumanly loud voice, being just one. He also seemed to have the power of a short fuse, the power to arrest anyone without reasonable cause and the power to deny an arrested person the right to legal counsel. He seemed to be more powerful than the Federal Constitution and the Criminal Procedure Code combined. The Brickfields Five stood defiantly against the Headhunter and his gang. Unbeknownst to the Brickfields Five, the Headhunter was in no mood to act in accordance with the law. When the Brickfields Five attempted to use their powers of advocacy and reasonableness with the backing of the rule of law, they were thwarted. The Brickfields Five tried in vain to convince the Headhunter that they were there to provide legal assistance to the people who had been arrested only moments before, allegedly for illegal assembly. The Brickfields Five were there as faithful servants of the law, to give effect to the constitutional rights of those arrested but they were in turn arrested and thrown into jail.

The night did not end there, however. The news of the arrest of the Brickfields Five had reached the ears of their brothers and sisters at law and about 80 of them, much like the A-Team, swooped in on the Brickfields police station. The president of the Malaysian Bar was there as well and in his capacity as the leader of the Malaysian Bar, walked into the police station with a few other lawyers to defuse the situation and secure the immediate release of the Brickfields Five. The rest stood around outside the station eagerly waiting for good news. Unfortunately, they were all to be disappointed. Even the president was unceremoniously forced to exit the police station.

The Bar, since the incident, is up in arms about the actions of the police force. Among other things, it has called for the resignation of the home minister, the inspector-general of police and the Headhunter. Some may ask what all the fuss is about. People get arrested everyday so why was it such a big deal when the Brickfields Five got arrested. Lawyers have been arrested before. They have been thrown in jail, they have been detained under the Internal Security Act and so on. All true but this time the lawyers were arrested not for purportedly committing an offence. The Brickfields Five were arrested for doing their duty by giving effect to Article 5 of the Federal Constitution and section 28A of the Criminal Procedure Code which are as follows.

» Article 5 (3) of the constitution states:

"Where a person is arrested he shall be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest and shall be allowed to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice."

» The relevant provisions of section 28A of the code states:

(1) A person arrested without a warrant shall be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest by the police officer making the arrest.

(2) A police officer shall, before commencing any form of questioning or recording of any statement from the person arrested, inform the person that he may:

(a) Communicate or attempt to communicate, with a relative or friend to inform of his whereabouts; and

(b) Communicate or attempt to communicate and consult with a legal practitioner of his choice.

(3) Where the person arrested wishes to communicate or attempt to communicate with the persons referred to in paragraphs (2)(a) and (b), the police officer shall, as soon as may be, allow the arrested person to do so.

(4) Where the person arrested has requested for a legal practitioner to be consulted, the police officer shall allow a reasonable time:

(a) for the legal practitioner to be present to meet the person arrested at his place of detention; and

(b) for the consultation to take place.

Denial of the right of an arrested person to consult a legal practitioner of his or her choice is a clear breach of the constitutional and statutory right of an arrested person. Arresting a legal practitioner who is seeking to provide legal consultation to an arrested client is nothing less than a despicable act that reeks of arrogance, ignorance and utter contempt for the rule of law and the rights guaranteed in the constitution. The arrest of the Brickfields Five is a grave portent of things to come and we may soon find ourselves on a slippery slope towards a state where the constant abuse of power inescapably becomes the norm and the rights that we hold dear, a thing of the past.

Sunil Lopez is a member of the Human Rights Committee, Bar Council Malaysia. For more information, see www.malaysianbar.org.my/hrc . The views expressed in this article are personal to the writer and may not necessarily represent the position of the Bar. Complaints of rights violations may be forwarded to oysim@malaysianbar.org.my for the consideration of the committee. However, we make no assurance that all cases will adopted for action.