Man dies during police interrogation

SHAH ALAM, Jan 20 - A man who was being detained to help investigation into cases of car thefts died suddenly when he was being interrogated at the Taipan Police Station, Subang Jaya, near here today.

Selangor Police Chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said the incident occurred at about 11 am when the man was being questioned about robberies and thefts involving luxury cars by a gang operating in the Klang Valley.

"During interrogation, the man asked for a glass of water and upon drinking the water, he collapsed and lost consciousness.

"A doctor from a clinic nearby who was summoned to examine the man later confirmed that he had died," he said.

Khalid disclosed this to reporters after receiving a mobile police station donated by the Selangor government, which was handed over by State Secretary Datuk Ramli Mahmud at the Shah Alam District Police Headquarters, here.

He said the 22-year-old man from Puchong was detained on Jan 15 on suspicion of being involved in robbing and stealing luxury cars such as the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord in Sungai Chua, Kajang near here.

The suspect's remains had been sent to the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) for a post-mortem and the case had been classified as sudden death for the time being.

Khalid said family members of the suspect had informed police that he was suffering from asthma. "We don't want any party to speculate as cases of custodial deaths were a sensitive issue.

The man had also given his cooperation throughout the interrogation. "No matter what the case may be, I give my assurance that a thorough investigation will be carried out and we are waiting for the outcome of the post-mortem," he said.

Earlier, Khalid received a van which had been refurbished to become a mobile police station costing RM140,000 contributed by the Selangor government which is equipped with a communication network connecting it to the Section 15 Police Station in Shah Alam to monitor the industrial areas in Section 22, Section 26 and Section 27, here.

Meanwhile, Ramli said he would propose that more mobile police stations be donated to the police to control crime especially in high-risk areas such as in Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya. - Bernama

20/1/09- Death in Custody KUGAN A/L ANANTHAN 22 years old boy at Subang Jaya Lock up

Brutal murder by the PDRM.

DEATH IN CUSTODY

21/1/09, Wednesday, Family of KUGAN A/L ANANTHAN will lodge police report at IPD Subang Jaya, (Section 8) with S.JAYATHAS Police Watch Malaysia, Lawyer N.Surendran, Kapar MP YB.Manikavasagam and Makkal SAKTHI.

PLEASE COME, PLEASE SMS TO ALL TO COME.

S.JAYATHAS
COORDINATER
POLICE WATCH MALAYSIA

HINDRAF MAKKAL SAKTHI Congratulates President Barack Obama

20th January 2009. 11am, Location AMERICAN EMBASSY.KL

We conngratulate Presiden Barack Obama to be the President of the United States of America. Mr.President please help us close down our own 'Guantanamo Bay' the infamous KAMUNTING DETENTION CENTRE and Release all ISA prisoners.

We also urge Presiden Barack Obama to please help THE MALAYSIAN INDIANS from the suppression of UMNO Goverment.

Valga Makkal SAKTHI

S.JAYATHAS
HINDRAF Makkal SAKTHI
NATIONAL COORDINATER
012 6362287

CAN UMNO CHANGE?

Since the unexpected defeat in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election on Saturday, UMNO has be echoing that it needs to CHANGE.

Only now UMNO realise that Malaysians do not appreciate them since they are uncaring, ineffective, inefficient, arrogant and corrupted.

Since all these attitudes have already infected UMNO leaders, it would be a miracle if UMNO can change. The best alternative would be to de-register UMNO once and for all and form a new party with fresh new leaders. The present leaders should be banned from participating in any political party for the next 10 years, to punish them for having corrupted our society with mischievous ideas.

Will UMNO be prepared to accept this. Just blaming others would not overcome their problem and UMNO can never CHANGE.

Does Cuepacs’ Omar know what he’s saying?

“Cuepacs: Nizar doesn’t know what he’s saying” - New Straits Times today reported the Cuepacs president Omar Othman denying that civil servants had contributed to Pas’ victory in Saturday’s Kuala Terengganu by-election.

The NST reported:

He (Omar) said public services employees, both those serving the federal and state governments, fully supported the Barisan Nasional and Umno leadership.

He was commenting on a claim by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.

“Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin claimed government staff serving the federal and state governments sympathised with and supported Pas,” Omar said yesterday.

“He also said they had become more daring to vote for Pas in the by-election despite being threatened or forced.

“This is a big lie by a man who knows nothing about the public services or its system.

“The more than 1.2 million civil servants in this country have been loyal and supportive of the government. There is no doubt about that.”

He said civil servants appreciated what the government had been doing for them all these years.

“They know who has been fighting for their welfare and paying their salaries to enable them to feed and support their family. Leave them alone,” Omar said.

Does Omar know what he is saying?

If Nizar’s statement that government servants, both federal and state, sympathized and supported PAS is to be challenged, it should come from UMNO and Barisan Nasional and not from Cuepacs.

How does the Cuepacs President know who the government servants voted for in the by-election?

Is there no secrecy of the ballot and the constitutional right of every voter, including a civil servant, to vote freely?

In saying that Nizar had told “a big lie” in claiming that government servants have become more daring to vote for PAS in the by-election despite being threatened or forced, Omar has strayed into a territory which is no business of the Cuepacs President, as it concerns the constitutional and citizenship right of a government servant to vote freely without coercion or inducement.

Is Omar seriously suggesting that civil servants in Pakatan Rakyat state governments should unite and vote against the Pakatan Rakyat candidates in by-elections or the next general election?

What has happened to the important principle that the civil service should be non-partisan in political party preferences and should loyally serve the government-of-the-day which has won the mandate of the people?

If the Cuepacs President can act in repudiation of these fundamental principles of a functioning democracy, no wonder Malaysia is lagging behind so many countries in maturing as a normal and healthy democracy.

Take me on, Muthu dares Samy Vellu

By : R. Sittamparam
NST, Jan 20 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: A day before he is supposed to face MIC disciplinary proceedings, Datuk M. Muthu Palaniappan took a swipe at the MIC party president, accusing him of "hiding behind" the committee.

Muthu alleged that party supremo Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu was afraid to take him on for the party president's post and was using the disciplinary committee to oust him.

The 66-year-old, who faces the disciplinary committee today for allegedly making statements detrimental to the party said: "Samy Vellu had previously claimed he could take on 100 contenders for the presidency, so why isn't he taking up my challenge?"

The former MIC vice president said having been terrorised by the party leadership over the past 10 years, he was not power-crazy.

"I'm a genuine MIC man and I want to put a stop to Samy Vellu's leadership which has brought much disappointment to the community.
"I can't bear to see the community moving away from MIC to join other parties and the hundreds of branches being suspended and members expelled by Samy Vellu."

He was speaking at a press conference which was also attended by former MIC division chiefs of Klang and Sungai Siput, Alex Thiagarajan and M. Loganathan who had been sacked by Samy Vellu.

Muthu said ever since he announced his decision to contest against Samy Vellu, he had been receiving encouragement everywhere he went.

"The critics said that I would not be able to get the 50 required nominations as branch chiefs would not dare to oppose Samy Vellu.

"But hundreds of branches have come to support me. They don't want me to back down."

Muthu also alleged that the "charges" against him, for which he will face the disciplinary committee today, were baseless.

He said the charges were based on excerpts from a Nov 11, 2008 Makkal Osai newspaper article and from an interview with Malaysiakini the following month.

"I don't recognise the excerpts. The committee has refused my written request for a copy of the complaint and the full text of the statements alleged to have been made by me."

Muthu said he would make an appeal for a special independent committee to look into the complaint.
*********

Samy Vellu's challenger says "they just want to nail me!"

Muthupalaniappan going through documents at the press conference after the inquiry. In the centre is his son and lawyer M. Muthuraman and another lawyer Datuk M.S.Murthi.

By Baradan Kuppusamy
Themalaysiainsider.com

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 - It is beginning to appear that in MIC there is no right or wrong, only what the president wants.

And this time the president wants to be elected unopposed and one man is standing in the way - former MIC Vice President Datuk M. Muthupalaniappan.

The party president's wishes suggests the speed in which disciplinary action is being taken against Muthupalaniappan, who is beginning to win support from the MIC's long suffering grassroots, so that Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu can cruise in unopposed when his term as president expires on 25 May 2009.

Time is of the essence, going by the way the MIC disciplinary committee today brushed aside all objections and protests from Muthupalaniappan, and completed the disciplinary inquiry against the challenger - all within 45 minutes.

Every objection raised by Muthupalaniappan was rejected by committee chairman Tan Sri G. Vadiveloo, who also asked two of his lawyers to leave the inquiry room.

A request for a three-day postponement to bring 12 witnesses was rejected. An objection asking Vadiveloo to disqualifying himself because he was an interested party was also rejected.

A request to get details of the complainant was rejected.

"They just want to nail me. This is disgusting…how Samy Vellu and his cronies are terrorizing the MIC and its members," a visibly upset Muthupalaniappan told reporters waiting outside the inquiry room at the MIC headquarters today.

"If I am expelled or suspended I will take it up with the BN leaders," Muthupalaniappan said. "I vow to fight on. I am doing it for the MIC and the Indian community."

Later Vadiveloo was adamant, saying it was a fair inquiry, and arguing that all of the preliminary objections by Muthupalaniappan were properly rejected and he was asked to defend himself on the charges that he had tarnished the party's "good name" in several press statements last month.

In one of the statements Muthupalaniappan had said Samy Vellu was opening and closing branches as he liked, had questioned the veracity of the complaints against him and later wrote a letter demanding an independent inquiry minus Vadiveloo.

Vadiveloo said the committee would evaluate and make recommendations to the CWC for further action but declined to say what the penalty would be.

Samy Vellu when met outside his office said: "I don't know anything, I am not involved."

The crux of the issue is that there is fear in Samy Vellu's camp that considering the hostile mood among the MIC rank and file after the massive March 8 polls losses, Muthupalaniappan is sure to win three or even four times the 50 branch nominations needed to challenge Samy Vellu when the incumbent's term expires on May 25.

Such an event would severely embarrass Samy Vellu because no other challenger except his former deputy Datuk S. Subramaniam had ever qualified to mount a challenge. That was in 1989 and Subramaniam eventually lost while alleging massive rigging the day after the vote.

There is also fear that Subramaniam and others might throw their support behind Muthupalaniappan at the last minute if the challenge is allowed to proceed beyond nomination to actual contest and balloting.

"They want to knock me out now, at the branch election level so that I cannot challenge Samy Vellu," Muthupalaniappan said referring to the Feb 7 date for branches to hold their elections, the 1st stage of the MIC election process.

Only a branch chairman who has the endorsement of at least 50 branches can contest for president and if suspended, as Muthupalaniappan believes he would be, he is disqualified from contesting as chairman of the Seremban branch of which he has been the chief for the past 25 years.

"If suspended I can't contest as chairman and not being a chairman that would automatically disqualify me from challenging Samy Vellu," Muthupalaniappan said. "This is their plan."

Vadiveloo strenuously denied the accusations, saying Muthupalaniappan was asked to face the inquiry committee by the CWC because of the statement he had made and not because of his challenge.

"All members are subject to the same rules," he said. "Just because you are a challenger does not mean you can disparage the party or its president,' Vadiveloo said.

If suspended Muthupalaniappan can appeal but he remains suspended in the interim period while the CWC hears his appeal, Vadiveloo explained.

Vadiveloo agreed the action against Muthupalaniappan appears as victimization and designed to stop the challenge but "the party will explain to its members" that this was not the case.

No date has been fixed for the president's election but it must be held three months "before the expiry" of the current incumbent's term. Notices of election must be sent out by Feb 28.

Branches hold their elections from Feb 7.

"As you can see there is not much time left for them to neutralize my challenge. That is why they refused all my objections and even refused a three day extension for me to produce witnesses," Muthupalaniappan. "They want to ta pou me speedily."

"It's what the president wants…it's what he gets," Muthupalaniappan told the Malaysian Insider today. "It is so sad, so much injustice, so much terror against party members."

"Why not be a man and have a free and fair fight…what is he afraid off," Muthupalaniappan said.

Shoe-throwing protest spreads…

An interfaith prayer and reflection for peace and justice in Gaza will be held at the Holy Spirit Hall in Penang (off Jalan Masjid Negeri/Green Lane at the Caltex station) at 8.00pm on Friday, 23 January.

Kicking off the event will be a speaker from Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM).

Over the last couple of weeks, the Herald, Malaysia’s Catholic weekly, has been highlighting the situation in Gaza on its front page.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi journalist who tossed shoes at George Bush may have started something. A crowd at a basketball match in Turkey has also tossed shoes in protest at a game. Click here.

A New Beginning

Political analysis is useful for providing the insights that flow from the more rounded appreciation of context such analysis allows for. Without context the significance of specific action will elude us. For instance, a statement by a politician could mean one thing in isolation but mean something completely different when considered against a backdrop of political intrigue. Anwar Ibrahim saying that he has six defectors from the Barisan Nasional is in itself suggestive of nothing more than an erosion of political support for the BN. However, when viewed against all else that Anwar Ibrahim has been involved in these past six months, the statement potentially takes on added resonance.

Post March-8th, there has been a sharp increase of political analysis on the Malaysian socio-political scene. The alternative media and blogs provide a veritable feast of information on a daily basis on a diverse range of subjects in the field. This has been a good thing for in setting out context, Malaysians have been more able to appreciate the many other ways of looking at things. They have also been able to see that free expression is something that does not harm our society as much as it does the politicians who hide their deficiencies behind such fears. Freer access to a range of diverse opinion has allowed for a maturing of the viewpoint of the Malaysian on the street.

There is however a downside, the root of which lies in the self-perception of the analyst that he and what he says is important. In their enthusiasm, analysts sometimes tend to forget that their analysis is not so much about their being able to do so but rather the truth of a given matter.

In an interview in 1993, the late Edward Said reflected that his meditations on politics and life had “always been a matter of exploration, of self-criticism and constant change in trying to surprise myself as well as my readers.” His reflection was prompted by a sense that public intellectuals tended to allow themselves to become “prisoners of their own language” and to be more concerned with “producing more work in fidelity to what they’d done before” at the expense of a truer perspective.

A noteworthy observation, it cautions against the very thing that seems to have occurred as the state of play between the BN and the Pakatan Rakyat intensifies. Analysis in these heightened times could be likened in many ways to commentary on a football league cup with many commentators having picked their side. Governance is however not about picking a side and sadly, more has been obscured than revealed by the parade of viewpoints and assessments.

In the run-up to the Kuala Trengganu by-election and its aftermath, we have been told what it all means for the BN, Abdullah Badawi, Najib Razak, the Pakatan Rakyat and Anwar Ibrahim. There are permutations upon permutations. We are asked to consider whether there was vote rigging, whether it is Abdullah Badawi that the people rejected or Najib or even the BN, whether it was the Chinese vote that swung the result or whether, as the MCA claims, the Chinese remained loyal to the MCA. We are told so many things in one form or the other, that in the end we are told very little.

For all this, nothing has been made clear and the question uppermost in mind is whether it really matters at all anymore who does what and how.

Whatever the spin or counter-spin, it is glaringly apparent that things are not as they should be in this country. Just as it is obvious that things should have been far better and could have been. It would not be incorrect to say that there are Malaysians who feel that they have come to be held hostage by an administration that is more concerned with protecting its own interests than those of the nation.

The state of flux points to many Malaysians having woken up to the fact. They want change in the most fundamental of ways: independence from a mindset that has left them colonized by an elite for its own benefit.

They are not fastidious as to who it is that becomes the Prime Minister of this country or who it is that forms the government. All they want is a government made up of men and women who believe in the ideals that the founders of this nation thought were a solid basis for a glorious future for all Malaysians. They want those men and women to believe in these ideals enough to get on with what needs to be done as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. They want the respect that each and every one of them is entitled to as a citizen.

In one of the several speeches that President Barack Obama gave on his historic journey into Washington for his inauguration, he said: “What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives.”

It is the same for us. We are in search of a new Malaysia. To find it, we must embrace the possibilities. To do that, our minds and hearts need to be liberated.

It is time for a new beginning.
Malik Imtiaz Sarwar

THE UNITED NATIONS

By

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

1. Perhaps it would be worthwhile if we read again the Charter of the United Nations to see how we and other countries subscribe to and carry out the objectives of the Charter.

Below is the introduction to the Charter;

"We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generation from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standard of life in larger freedom, and for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organisation to be known as the United Nations."

2. Clearly the United Nations is aimed at saving succeeding generations (we and our children, grand children....) from the scourge of war.

3. Who wars today? Is it us or is it the very country which initiated this Charter, on whose soil the countries of the world gathered to formulate and to sign.

4. Total disregard for the "sorrow to mankind" is shown repeatedly by the United States and Britain.

5. And has the United States shown any "faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small".

6. Look at the millions killed, millions more injured, cities and towns devastated by wars of aggression by the United States, look at the detention without trial and the torture of suspected "terrorists", the sanctions which killed hundreds of thousands of children and many other obvious disregard for fundamental human rights; look at them and ask yourselves what kind of people are the Americans who signed the UN Charter.

7. Then there is the obligation "to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law".

8. Have the United States and Britain, the main signatories of the United Nations Charter "established conditions under which justice and respect for .... treaties and international laws".

9. Both countries totally ignored the Charter of the United Nations the treaty that established it, when both warred against Iraq without the approval of the United Nations. Numerous international laws on rights of citizens and non-citizens, imprisonment and torture, international agreements on the environment have been flouted by the United States. Even the authority of the World Court has been rejected by the US.

10. Has the United States promoted social progress and better standards of life? Killing people in order to promote democracy is totally contrary to this undertaking.

11. Has the United States practiced tolerance and lived in peace as good neighbours? Has the United States obeyed the injunction not to use armed force and has it used international machinery for the promotion of economic and social advancement of all people? To all these questions, the answer is a resounding "No"!

12. Truly the United States and at times Britain together with Israel have never honored anything that they have undertaken to do in the Charter of the Untied Nations or at any other time.

13. And yet these two countries often take the high moral ground to preach to other people about human rights, about the rule of law, about respect for international law, about respecting treaties and agreements, about equality and freedoms etc.

14. Never has the world seen hypocrisy on this scale.

Sri Lanka searches for rebel chief ( Al Jazeera)

The military has set up a naval blockade off the coast to prevent LTTE movement [EPA] Sri Lankan special forces have mounted a search for Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil Tiger leader, as the military continued to battle fighters in the country's north. Military sources said on Tuesday that four Tamil Tiger boats had been destroyed near Mullativu, the fighters' last base, as they tried to escape government forces. Around 16 fighters were killed in the sea battle, the sources said. Miliatry officials believe that Prabhakaran could be hiding in a bunker in the jungles of Puthukkudiyiruppu and Vishwamadu in Mullativu district. Prabhakaran has successfully eluded capture since Sri Lanka's civil war began over two decades ago. Naval blockade Officials said they were using spy planes that monitored satellite phone transmissions and took photographs of the jungle region to try to pin-point Prabhakaran's location. Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said: "We are hunting for him, and using every method [to find him]." The military has also set up a naval blockade off the country's northeast coast to prevent Prabhakaran from escaping. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's defence secretary, said in a TV interview last week: "If he has not fled the country already, we will be able to capture Prabhakaran very soon." MR Narayan Swamy, an Indian journalist who wrote a biography of the LTTE leader, said the loss of Prabhakaran would be devastating to the group. "He is their brain. He is their heart. He is their god. He is their soul, and the whole organisation runs around him," he said. Military advance In recent weeks, Sri Lanka's military has captured much of the Tiger's territory, with Kilinochchi, the Tiger's de facto capital, falling earlier this month. The fighters still control a 40km stretch of coastline off of Mullaitivu, but the navy says it has set up four layers of naval barriers to restrict LTTE boat movement. The defence ministry said a navy fast attack craft was damaged in the sea battle on Tuesday when a Tiger suicide boat detonated next to it. A conflicting report on a pro-Tamil website said that fighters carried out a suicide attack and sank a navy fast attack craft. The navy denied that their craft had sunk. Sri Lanka's government pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce with the Tigers a year ago and has since embarked on its most determined effort yet to dismantle LTTE territory. Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's president, has said that his troops are on the verge of victory and that he will not accept anything short of total surrender from the Tigers. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far.