Malayur News: 06/19/09

Friday, 19 June 2009

Police helping Pakatan to come to power faster

P Dev Anand Pillai | Jun 18, 09 5:23pm iThe first thing that the opposition must do if it ascends to federal power in the near future is to ensure…

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Pemuda PAS: Kes liwat Anwar tidak jejas Pakatan

YET ANOTHER SLAP ON MALAYSIA FOR HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATION.

It’s shocking to hear another Human Right report World Refugee Survey 2009 report has placed Malaysia in the same basket as six other countries - South Africa, Gaza, Thailand, Kenya,…

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Conversions in my family

It's hard for me to understand why there's so much concern about conversions of minors in a family, where one parent embraces Islam.

By Estrelita Soliano Grosse

Here’s my own…

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Uthayakumar finds a new office, still looking for his way

Uthayakumar goes through a file in his office. — Pictures by Choo Choy May

By Baradan Kuppusamy - The Malaysian Insisider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 —A controversial man and his…

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Uthayakumar goes through a file in his office. — Pictures by Choo Choy May

By Baradan Kuppusamy - The Malaysian Insisider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 —A controversial man and his new vision is taking shape at No. 6 Jalan Abdullah — the ground floor of an ordinary looking five-storey office block off Jalan Bangsar.

One thing however is striking — the bright orange/saffron colour that is newly being applied outside and inside the office when The Malaysian Insider team visited on Wednesday.

The bold Hindraf colour stands out in the pastel surrounding announcing the arrival of lawyer Uthayakumar Ponnusamy, recently released from ISA detention and still undecided what he wants to be — activist lawyer or pioneering politician.

“I am unhappy with both terms,” he says as supporters paint the wall and bring in old files, photographs, banners and plaques, all memorabilia from nearly 20 years of activism, since his return from London as a lawyer in 1990.

“The word politician gives me the creeps because politicians make promises that they seldom keep. I am also abandoning my law practice because law does not give justice to the people... not in this country,” he said.

“Besides Umno has no respect for the law,” he said taking a dig at his favourite adversary. “People here can’t get justice through the law and the courts are unreliable.”

No. 6 is where the Hindraf founder is setting up shop and hoping to recapture the magic of the Makkal Sakthi movement that he had sparked with his Nov 5, 2007 mass protest here.

Everywhere on the floor of his new office are the clutter of his past — books, file, banners, photographs — that tell the story of his life and the choices he had made.

As a student in London in the mid-1980s he was a leading light in the MIC Club of London.

He was also a pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) and pro-Anwar Ibrahim student although he now tries to skirt around that period.

On his return in 1990 he started a successful law practice but soon was caught up in the political maelstrom that followed the sacking of the former deputy prime minister.

In fact he was in Anwar’s house that day — Sept 20, 1998 — when balaclava-clad policemen stormed the house and took him away.

He was a Keadilan member but soon fell out with Anwar because he blamed him for not doing enough for the Indians.

After that Uthayakumar ventured into his own, forming the Party Reformasi Insan Malaysia or PRIM, which with a dozen loyalists, was a complete non-starter.

He again moved on to forming the Police Watch NGO to fight police brutality and death in custody in which many of those affected were poor Indians.

Here he had greater success and managed to make his mark as a grassroots Indian leader. He also brought international condemnation onto the government and managed to force changes.

Then came the Nov 25 protest that made world headlines and turned him into a hero to some and a enemy to others.

After 500 over days in detention, Uthayakumar was released last month and is now trying to find his bearings in a cluttered and changed political landscape.

The other Hindraf leaders held with him have also all been released and are not keen to associate with Uthayakumar and his schemes anymore.

Some of his core lieutenants who kept the flame alive when the leaders were in Kamunting have also parted ways. The so called co-coordinators have all split.

National co-coordinator R.S. Thanenthiran has formed his own Makkal Sakthi Party of Malaysia, strangely in quick time and ironically without the involvement of any of the core Hindraf leaders.

Uthayakumar’s only consolation is that his brother Waythamoorthy is making final preparations to return from self-imposed exile in London and to an uncertain fate.

"We will work together... he is the brains. I often defer to him," Uthayakumar said.

After his release last month Uthayakumar held a series of meetings with key supporters and the one topic that dominated the discussions was, what next?

They had a choice — a grassroots-based NGO or a full fledged political party to gather all the loose strands and unite them under one umbrella.

“The debate was fierce and is still raging,” said Uthayakumar, declining to elaborate on the final choice.

“A decision has already been made and a formal announcement will be made at the Hokkien Hall in Klang on July 19,” he said, refusing to divulge what shape his new movement would take. “It will be a unique movement with a vision and a total plan of action."

Sources close to him however said he is expected to announce the setting up of a new political party, a field already crowded with numerous old, new and expired political parties.

It would be a multi-racial party, his aides said, but concentrating on alleviating the critical problems faced by the Indian community.

Uthayakumar refused to confirm or deny this.

“We will be a third and an independent force and will not join either Pakatan or Barisan,” he said.

Uthayakumar also visited key areas in the country where Hindraf had previously enjoyed significant support like in Batu Caves, Kulim in Kedah and Georgetown in Penang.

“The crowd was smaller but the people still came and thanked me profusely for fighting for their rights,” he said. “Some want to fall on my legs but I did not allow it.”

The smaller crowd is not significant, he said, adding the March 8 tsunami is over and unlikely to return any time soon. “It took 50 years of discrimination to build up the Nov 25 type of anger.”

“The point is we have to tackle the issues that confront our community — poverty, lack of skills, ill treatment and so forth,” he said. “Although the tsunami gave Pakatan big victory, but despite that the Indian woes remain.”

“This is what the third force will tackle… force Pakatan and Barisan to tackle our woes in return for our votes,” he said.

His plans seems to be to undercut the Pakatan Rakyat allies — PKR and DAP and other newer rivals like the Makkal Sakthi Party — and corner the Indian vote.

After that to use his influence as a bargaining chip with PR to get the best for the community.

He has written off the MIC, Gerakan and PPP as rivals for the Indian vote.

"They are well past their shelf lives."

If this is his dream vision, then he has his work cut out for him — as a start-up new party he has to slogged it out and build a network, gather members, form branches and divisions.

Relying just on the emotional support he now enjoys from some sections of the community could be short-lived as other competitors, some credible like Datuk T. Murugiah, are entering the field and making waves among the Indian grassroots.

Besides, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin are not idle. They are giving priority to minorities' concerns and are quietly winning over the hearts and minds of the Indians.

Uthayakumar's other choice is to join either the DAP or the PKR and try to work with them to get the results he desires.

His answer to this is an emphatic No! “I will not join them… they have betrayed the Indians,” he said.

The reaction on the other side is equally firm.

“We don’t want him… he is a wild fellow impossible to tame,” said a top DAP leader.

Indonesia to suspend sending maids to Malaysia

JAKARTA, June 19 — The Indonesian government plans to temporarily stop sending domestic helpers to Malaysia after an Indonesian maid was recently tortured, Indonesia's Antara news agency reported.

"We will…

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JAKARTA, June 19 — The Indonesian government plans to temporarily stop sending domestic helpers to Malaysia after an Indonesian maid was recently tortured, Indonesia's Antara news agency reported.

"We will likely stop it (dispatch of domestic helpers) temporarily. But we will first invite relevant ministers and parties to a meeting on June 23 to make a preliminary evaluation," Antara quoted Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno as saying yesterday.

Among those to be invited to the meeting are the state minister for women's empowerment, the foreign minister, the law and human rights minister, the home affairs minister, the national police chief and the Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia as well as Malaysian representatives, he said.

He said the decision to be taken at the meeting would have a systemic impact and his ministry could not decide any problem related to the dispatch of domestic helpers on its own.

"But I want it (the dispatch of domestic helpers) stopped until there is a response from the Malaysian government on protection of Indonesian migrant workers there," he said.

The plan to temporarily stop the dispatch of domestic helpers was the government's response to a myriad of problems being faced by Indonesian workers in Malaysia.

One of the latest of such problems arose from an incident befalling domestic helper Siti Hajar who came from Limbangan, Garut, West Java.

Suparno had earlier said delegations from the two countries were scheduled to hold talks on July 15 to discuss various problems facing Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

At the meeting, the Indonesian delegation would propose reviewing several clauses in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the manpower field both sides signed early this year.

The clauses are among others related to protection of Indonesian migrant workers and their rights as well as improvement of their salaries.

"If no agreement on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers is reached, we will consider putting a temporary stop to the dispatch of domestic helpers," the minister said.

He said he discussed the protection of migrant workers with Malaysian Minister of Human Resources Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam early this month when they attended the 98th International Labour Conference in Geneva. — Bernama

Eksklusif: Kes Liwat, Mengingati Semula Siapakah Dr.Zahari Noor Seorang Pakar Forensik HKL Yang Ditukar Ke Kuantan Kerana Pertahan Prinsipnya

Bila diperkatakan perihal laporan perubatan terhadap kes liwat Anwar, pasti kita tidak akan lupa dengan satu nama yang amat sinonim dengan kes beliau pada tahun 1998 dulu iaitu Dr.Zahari Noor.…

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Bila diperkatakan perihal laporan perubatan terhadap kes liwat Anwar, pasti kita tidak akan lupa dengan satu nama yang amat sinonim dengan kes beliau pada tahun 1998 dulu iaitu Dr.Zahari Noor. Beliau adalah salah seorang Pakar Forensik (Terkanan) yang bertugas di Hospital Kuala Lumpur yang telah diarahkan bertukar ke Hospital Tg.Ampuan Afzan Kuantan (foto), gara-gara enggan untuk memberi kerjasama sepenuhnya bagi berkaitan kes tersebut. Adalah difahamkan, gara-gara sikapnya yang tidak mahu bersekongkol dengan penipuan dan kejahatan yang dilakukan oleh pihak terbabit dalam usaha membuat bukti-bukti palsu terhadap kes berkenaan maka beliau telah diarahkan bertukar. Beliau selepas itu menjadi Pakar Forensik di HTAA dan juga di Pantai Timur. Namanya kini sepi dan seolah-olah dilupakan terus oleh media arus perdana dan alternatif. Namun, krew kami di Kuantan yang pernah bertemu beliau di dalam sebuah masjid di sana, secara jelas mendapatkan maklumat tentang kes Anwar daripada beliau. Antara lain, beliau turut mengakui bahawa kes yang berlaku itu adalah rekaan dan ciptaan semata-mata. Pihak Hospital Kuala Lumpur telah dipaksa oleh polis untuk membuat dan meminda laporan perubatan Sukma serta lain-lain mangsa yang dikaitkan dengan Anwar.

Mereka dipaksa meminda bahawa kesemua mangsa itu memang telah diliwat oleh Anwar biar pun hakikatnya adalah tidak sama sekali. Bagi mereka yang tidak mahu terlibat dan bersekongkol dengan kerja jahat tersebut, maka akan ditukarkan. Namun, beliau bersyukur kerana kini selesa berpindah ke Hospital Tg.Ampuan Afzan Kuantan ketika itu. Maka itu, jika laporan yang memang sudah sahih menunjukkan mangsa tidak diliwat itu pun mahu dipinda supaya berlaku sebaliknya. Apatah lagi laporan yang dibuat oleh Dr.Mohamed Osman dari Hospital Pusrawi dulu. Kini, akhirnya kebenaran bagai kian terserlah apabila ketiga-tiga doktor pakar yang merawat Saiful Bukhari dalam kes liwat terbaru Anwar kini sebulat suara mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa anak muda itu memang tidak ada kesan dan tanda-tanda diliwat. Apakah ketiga-tiga doktor pakar terbabit akan menerima nasib yang sama seperti Dr.Zahari Noor agaknya? Nantikan sahaja kesudahan episod misteri ini. Ternyata kini, bahawa kesemua laporan klinikal membuktikan yang Saiful "masih teruna", dan wajarlah kes perbicaraan liwat yang bakal diadakan pada 1 Julai 2009 ini juga turut dibatalkan oleh Mahkamah Tinggi. Di bawah ini dipaparkan sedutan artikel berkaitan Dr.Zahari :-

Dr.Zahari, Contoh Darah Anwar Bukan Untuk DNA

KUALA LUMPUR [30 Dis 1998] - Seorang pakar forensik Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) memberitahu Mahkamah Tinggi di sini hari ini bahawa contoh darah Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tidak boleh digunakan untuk ujian DNA kerana ia diambil dan disediakan bagi ujian HIV, Hepatitis B dan VD (penyakit kelamin). Dr Zahari Noor berkata, oleh kerana itu beliau menolak permintaan polis sebanyak dua kali supaya contoh darah itu digunakan untuk ujian DNA. Menurutnya, ketika di Ibu Pejabat Polis Bukit Aman pada 28 September lalu bagi mengambil darah Anwar, beliau ditanya oleh Asisten Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof sama ada ujian DNA boleh dilakukan terhadap Anwar. Katanya, beliau menasihatkan polis supaya tidak mengambil darah Anwar untuk ujian DNA kerana Anwar hanya memberi persetujuan supaya darahnya digunakan bagi ujian HIV, Hepatitis B dan VD. "Pada 15 Oktober lalu, Mohd Rodwan dan SAC I (Senior Asisten Komisioner) Musa Hassan datang ke HKL dan bertanya sama ada mereka boleh mengambil contoh darah Anwar untuk analisis DNA," katanya. Dr Zahari berkata mereka memberikan empat sebab kepada polis mengapa ujian DNA tidak boleh dilakukan terhadap darah Anwar:
Contoh itu tidak disediakan untuk analisis DNA,
Ia tidak sesuai untuk ujian DNA
Keputusan ujian DNA itu tidak boleh dipercayai.
Ia boleh membawa keputusan yang mengelirukan kerana kami menyimpan contoh darah itu di dalam bekas biasa tanpa pengawet atau EDTA.

Dua orang pegawai polis yang kini naik pangkat selepas kes Anwar 1998
Katanya, mereka kemudian mencadangkan kepada polis bahawa mereka bersedia pada bila-bila masa untuk mengambil contoh darah Anwar di penjara Sungai Buloh untuk ujian DNA jika tertuduh membenarkannya. Saksi pendakwa ke-20 itu memberi keterangan dalam pemeriksaan utama oleh Timbalan Pendakwa Raya Datuk Abdul Gani Patail pada perbicaraan yang memasuki hari ke-35 itu. Sebelum itu, Dr Zahari berkata, beliau mengambil contoh darah bekas setiausaha sulit Anwar, Mohamad Azmin Ali dan isterinya, Shamsidar Tahrin dan anak perempuan pasangan itu yang berumur tiga tahun, Farah Afifa pada 29 Julai lalu, bagi ujian DNA. Katanya, beliau mengambil contoh darah Anwar pada 28 September lalu selepas diminta oleh polis. Bagaimanapun, beliau mengakui HKL tidak menjalankan ujian DNA dan beliau sendiri tidak pernah menjalankan ujian atau mempunyai pengalaman amali dalam teknik terkini DNA kerana ia bukan bidangnya. Dr Zahari berkata, contoh darah itu disimpan selama dua bulan setengah sebelum polis mengambilnya pada 9 Disember, bagi dihantar kepada Jabatan Kimia Petaling Jaya untuk ujian DNA.

Di bawah ini satu lagi laporan yang telah dikeluarkan oleh seorang doktor berhubung dengan kekeliruan laporan yang dibuat oleh akhbar Utusan Malaysia terhadap kenyataan yang telah dibuat oleh Dr.Zahari berhubung dengan kes liwat Sukma Dermawan. Di sini jelas sekali menunjukkan bahawa media memang berperanan untuk memesongkan fakta sebenar bagi mengubah persepsi dan tanggapan rakyat terhadap kes ini dulu. Maka wajarlah media seperti ini ditolak oleh rakyat demi menjaga minda generasi muda agar tidak terus terpesong. Cuba lihat artikel berkenaan bagi menjelaskan lagi tentang perkara ini :-

Utusan Malaysia Putarbelit Testimoni Dr.Zahari

[10 Feb 2000] - Saya agak terperanjat dengan tajuk berita di Utusan Malaysia (UM) hari ini (bukan saya beli tetapi kepunyaan rakan saya ) bertajuk 'Saksi akui ada kemungkinan Sukma diliwat'. Kenyataan ini dikatakan dikeluarkan oleh Pakar Forensik Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Dr Zahari Noor semasa menjadi saksi pembelaan kes 'liwat' DSAI semalam. Kenyataan ini agak bercanggah dengan apa yang dikatakan oleh Dr Zahari Noor semasa perbicaraan kes 'rasuah' DSAI tahun lepas di mana beliau mengatakan bahawa TIDAK ADA BUKTI PERUBATAN YANG MENUNJUKKAN BAHAWA SUKMA PERNAH DILIWAT PADA LIMA TAHUN KEBELAKANGAN INI DAN TIADA BUKTI MENUNJUKKAN SUKMA ADALAH PENGAMAL HOMOSEKS BERTERUSAN (HABITUAL HOMOSEXUAL). Oleh kerana saya tidak puas hati dengan laporan UM tersebut, saya pergi ke gerai akhbar dan membelek (bukan membeli) akhbar tabloid the Star mengenai kes 'liwat' DSAI. The Star memberi tajuk 'NO SIGNS OF ANAL PENETRATION' bermaksud tidak ada tanda-tanda dubur Sukma telah ditembusi. The Star juga mengatakan bahawa Dr Zahari Noor tidak dapat mengesahkan samada Sukma pernah diliwat atau tidak ('Dr Zahari Noor said he could not determine whether Sukma had ever been sodomised or not' ). Jadi yang mana satu hendak dipercayai sekarang, UM atau the Star? (Rujuk Video Pengakuan Sukma)
Nampaknya UM masih cuba menipu rakyat dengan memutarbelitkan testimoni Dr Zahari Noor. Seboleh mungkin UM mahu juga meyakinkan rakyat bahawa DSAI adalah pengamal homoseks. UM juga cuba menonjolkan cerita mengenai parut yang berada di dubur Sukma sebagai bukti liwat. Bukankah kita telah diberitahu dahulu oleh saorang doktor bedah bahawa parut itu adalah kesan dari pembedahan buasir (haemorrhoids) yang dialami oleh Sukma. Doktor bedah tersebut juga menyatakan bahawa tidak ada bukti masalah buasir Sukma bersangkut paut dengan amalan homoseks yang didakwa diamalkan oleh Sukma. Di dalam buku perubatan pun tidak ada dinyatakan bahawa kegiatan liwat boleh menyebabkan penyakit buasir. Sekiranya benar Sukma adalah pengamal homoseks berterusan (habitual homosexual) seperti yang didakwa, sudah tentu pemeriksaan dubur Sukma akan menunjukkan kesan sekalipun amalan tersebut menggunakan lubricant. Dubur sesaorang pengamal homoseks berterusan akan menjadi lembut (lax atau patulous di dalam istilah perubatan) apabila doktor melakukan 'digital per rectal examination' tetapi ini tidak dikesan pada dubur Sukma. Yang pendakwa bertanya mengenai pemeriksaan 'proctoscopy' apa relevannya? Nak tengok ada buasir ke di dalam dubur Sukma? Setahu saya proctoscopy dibuat untuk melihat buasir pada peringkat awal iaitu dipanggil 'first degree atau second degree haemorrhoids', bukan untuk menunjukkan bukti liwat.
Yang menghairankan saya ialah akhbar Berita Harian (BH) yang saya belek di gerai akhbar hari ini tidak ada langsung laporan mengenai kes perbicaraan 'liwat' DSAI. Adakah kerana pada peringkat pembelaan ini di mana DSAI dan Sukma sudah memgemukakan bukti-bukti kukuh yang menunjukkan bahawa tuduhan 'liwat' itu tidak benar dan sengaja diada-adakan maka BH tidak berani melaporkan? Kenapa tidak perbesarkan bukti yang dikemukakan oleh Sukma bahawa Tivolli Villa hanya diduduki selepas April 1993? Satu lagi berita terbaru yang menarik mengenai kes 'liwat' DSAI ialah mengenai usaha peguam-peguam DSAI untuk memanggil Dr Mahathir ke mahkamah untuk memberi keterangan. Dr Mahathir pernah berkata selepas memecat DSAI ' I did my own investigations other than the police investigations regarding DSAI homosexual activities and I was convinced'. Saya berhajat benar agar Dr Mahathir dapat memberitahu mahkamah bagaimana beliau melakukan kajian salahlaku seks DSAI dan memberikan bukti-bukti kukuh seperti yang didakwa oleh beliau. Sedangkan polis sendiri di bawah SAC 1 Musa Hassan sendiri sampai sekarang tidak dapat bukti kukuh, maka adalah penting Dr Mahathir sendiri hadir ke mahkamah sebagai saksi

[Maka dengan ini, sama-samalah kita lihat apakah pula trick dan helah yang akan digunakan oleh Saiful Bukhari Azlan bagi membuktikan beliau telah diliwat Anwar. Apakah pihak polis boleh menerima keterangan dari "mulut" Saiful daripada laporan klinikal daripada Hospital Kuala Lumpur dan Pusrawi itu agaknya. Jika laporan mulut diterima oleh polis dan mahkamah, maka memang zaman kehancuran sistem kehakiman dan undang-undang negara akan berlaku lagi akhirnya. Masyarakat dunia akan merasa takut untuk datang serta melabur di Malaysia, selepas melihat kes pembunuhan dan jenayah dipermain-mainkan oleh mahkamah di negara ini. Justeru itu, kembalilah kepada kebenaran dan tegakkan keadilan. Kembalikan semula keyakinan rakyat terhadap isntitusi kehakiman negara. Usahlah kita terus biarkan generasi kita terbelenggu dengan sistem kehakiman yang terpesong daripada matlamatnya. Sia-sia sahaja anak-anak kita belajar ilmu undang-undang di universiti dalam dan luar negara, jika inilah amalan undang-undang yang mahu dipertontonkan].

Unity government: A case of mid-summer madness

By Tunku Abdul Aziz

It must have to do with the unusually hot weather we are experiencing that has brought about a touch of mid-summer madness among one or two…

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By Tunku Abdul Aziz

It must have to do with the unusually hot weather we are experiencing that has brought about a touch of mid-summer madness among one or two senior members of PAS who have decided against their better judgment to break ranks to engage Umno in talks about the prospects of forming a national unity government. Otherwise why would reasonably sane people want to risk peer condemnation and denunciation by doing the unthinkable? This is the most charitable explanation I can offer.

We need a national unity government like we need a hole in the head. The thought of sleeping with the ethically debased and morally detestable Barisan Nasional government is simply too abhorrent to contemplate. Are we such reckless and irresponsible gluttons for punishment that in spite of having endured the Umno excesses in social, economic and political terms these last three decades, we are now asking for more of the same? That, believe it or not, is what we will get for our trouble. Umno will be more than happy to oblige.

They have nothing to lose and everything to benefit from our mindless gamble with our future. Why are some of us so eager to go to bed with a political party that has not one redeeming feature left to justify our risking our hard-earned reputation? Where are our much trumpeted principles of honesty and integrity? Are we no different, after all, from the Umno that we despise? Don’t we care two hoots about the people up and down the country who campaigned and voted for us and gave us five states to govern because they were disgusted and fed up with the Umno majority government and its antics?

That some members of the top PAS leadership could even think of getting under the blanket with BN, and Umno in particular, is extremely worrying. We must never lose sight of the fact that when voters across the nation threw their very considerable support behind the DAP, PAS, and PKR on that fateful day of March 8, 2008, they wanted change, not just any change, but the sort of transformation that would put paid to the unbridled, wonton political corruption that has left this country in total disarray on every conceivable front.

Yes, this country with all the natural resources at its disposal could quite easily have been catapulted to the top of the high-income countries league table without too much difficulty under a different management. Talking about making Malaysia into a high-income country under BN is self-deluding, and Najib knows it. He must know that corruption and competitiveness make strange bedfellows. Najib, who must know a thing or two about corruption in Umno, must realise without any prompting from me that unless he is prepared to confront corruption decisively, he can kiss goodbye to any dream of a prosperous Malaysia on par with the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan in our corner of the globe.

That vast numbers of people wanted an incorruptible government was precisely the reason why they cast their votes against the BN component parties to deny them their accustomed two-thirds majority that they had had taken for granted as if it was their divine right. The magical two-thirds gave them the legitimacy to trample on our rights to good governance. They did not give us the votes so that we may traffic with the likes of Umno. They wanted us to act and behave differently and to give substance to the notion of public duty in the public interest.

To be seen associating with Umno whose moral reputation is in tatters is tantamount to giving comfort and succour to the corrupt in our midst, and betraying the trust and confidence of the rakyat in our integrity. That cannot do our own reputation any good at a time when people are starting to ask what is it that we are doing that is going to make a difference to their lives. We had better have the answers ready, sooner rather than later.

What do we hope to achieve by working with Umno when we have absolutely nothing in common with them that will benefit the nation. Umno has been stuck in the same old corruption groove as long as I can remember, and it wants to remain where it is because corruption is the opium that feeds its soul and dulls its sensibilities. Is this really where we see ourselves fitting in? PAS has to think through all this very carefully because it owes to its supporters, well-wishers as well as its partners in Pakatan Rakyat a clear and unequivocal explanation for this aberration. Or there more to this than meets the eye?

We who have long been in the opposition should know how difficult it is to earn public confidence, and surely we do not need this madness now to terrify those sitting on the fence from coming down on our side. If earning confidence is difficult, think how much more difficult it is to retain it. We must not put our supporters’ goodwill to the test by this highly risky and dangerous venture. The consequences are too terrible to imagine.

Umno will like nothing better than see us sow the seed of our own destruction. That party and its leadership have fritted away their ethical capital and have no moral authority to lead this nation. We have and we must protect our reputation by distancing ourselves from the scams and scandals that dog their every step.

A national unity government is totally irrelevant because there will be no change in the way the affairs of this country are managed unless the BN government is shown the door at the first opportunity.

Let us work towards that objective by coming up with practical and sustainable policies based on social justice and equality of opportunity for all Malaysians that will transform this country into one that will have an honoured place at the top table of the world’s respected nations. My advice to Umno is that there is life beyond corruption.

Perbahasan Rang Undang-Undang Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri Malaysia

VERSI HANSARD
PADA 16 JUN 2009

Tuan Yang di-Pertua: Terima kasih. Ahli Yang Berhormat, masalahnya di hadapan Majlis ialah rang undang-undang bernama satu akta untuk meminda satu Akta Lembaga Dalam…

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VERSI HANSARD
PADA 16 JUN 2009

Tuan Yang di-Pertua: Terima kasih. Ahli Yang Berhormat, masalahnya di hadapan Majlis ialah rang undang-undang bernama satu akta untuk meminda satu Akta Lembaga Dalam Negeri 1995 dibacakan untuk kali yang kedua dan sekarang terbuka untuk dibahas. Sila, Yang Berhormat Permatang Pauh.

3.21 ptg.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim [Permatang Pauh]: Tuan Yang di-Pertua, saya mohon untuk mengatakan sokongan terhadap pindaan beberapa peruntukan, tetapi juga menjelaskan bahawa terdapat kekurangan yang harus diberikan perhatian. Ini kerana pindaan Akta Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri Malaysia 1995, patut mengambil kesempatan, mengambil kira keadaan kegawatan ekonomi dan keperluan untuk meningkatkan usaha dan keberkesanan lembaga dalam mengutip cukai, terutama yang dianggap bocor.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, saya akui bahawa Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri merupakan di antara lembaga yang menyempurnakan tanggungjawab dengan membanggakan. Status jabatan ini setelah menjadi lembaga, nyata lebih kemas dan kita lihat ada kemajuan dari sudut keupayaan mereka mendapatkan jumlah pendapatan negara yang bertambah.

Saya ingin juga menekankan di sini bahawa masalah yang di hadapi masih banyak iaitu tentang kegagalan kita menangani satu masalah yang besar, yang dikaitkan dengan ekonomi yang tidak formal. Sepatutnya, dalam pindaan ini, kementerian mengambil kira bagaimana hal ini boleh diselesaikan.

Saya ingin merujuk umpamanya, satu kajian yang terbaru dari Universiti New South Wales, bagaimana seorang pakar Jabatan Hasil Dalam Negeri, Najeeb Memon membangkitkan fokus tentang apa yang disebut beliau sebagai presumptive income tax, iaitu melaksana taksiran kutipan cukai dalam ekonomi yang tidak formal atau ekonomi bawah tanah yang berleluasa di negara berkembang. Sepatutnya Malaysia dapat atasi masalah ini dari semasa ke semasa walaupun hal ini sudah ada, dan menjangkau selama puluhan tahun.

Seperti mana yang kita faham, ada yang menganggap bahawa transaksi tunai di negara kita, yang di bawah kategori cukai tidak formal, kegiatan ekonomi tidak formal ini, menjangkau sehingga 40%, ini yang dianggap ekonomi bawah tanah. Ekonomi ini termasuklah kegiatan perjudian yang tidak berlesen. Istilah kerajaan perjudian tidak lesen dikata perjudian haram. Saya tidak tahu kalau ada perjudian halal.

Jadi sebab itu, saya cadangkan Timbalan Menteri ambil perhatian. Untuk memahami, bukan sahaja pemahaman Islam, tetapi juga pemahaman semua agama. Ada perjudian berlesen, ada perjudian tidak berlesen. Bukan perjudian halal dan perjudian haram. Akan tetapi, perjudian ini besar dan malangnya Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri sukar untuk mengambil tindakan. Apatah lagi, sekiranya kegiatan ini bersekongkol dengan beberapa kalangan bidang penguatkuasaan, termasuk polis.

Continue reading ‘Perbahasan Rang Undang-Undang Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri Malaysia’

Rajeswary Offers To Contest For Top Wanita MIC Post

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 (Bernama) -- Bukit Bintang Wanita MIC chief Rajeswary Ganeson Thursday expressed her intention to contest for the movement's national leadership post in the…

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PAS: Anti-Umno faction stand tall, Pro-Umno slink shamefully in shadows

by Nathaniel Tan

I’m not a fan of the headline “Pas Fallout” but I think the other two titles in the Star are indicative:

10 MPs throw their support behind…

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Possibly a quick conviction and back to jail - Malaysiakini

What is likely to happen when Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim goes on trial for sodomy in two weeks' time?

MCPX

The worst-case senario, according to Anwar, would be for him…

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Anti-ISA rally: Students fined RM3,900 each

Kerajaan Perpaduan Syura tak pernah bincang

Penyerahan Memorandum Kepada Suhakam

HKL medical report: No sign of penetration

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s lawyers today disclosed that the most important element needed to stick a sodomy charge on the politician was missing…

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HKL medical report: No sign of penetration

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s lawyers today disclosed that the most important element needed to stick a sodomy charge on the politician was missing from a report prepared by Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL).

They said that the medical report released by the hospital has revealed that there was no evidence of penetration on Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan – the complainant on whom the criminal case was based.

A copy of the medical report was attached to an affidavit filed by Anwar yesterday to strike out the sodomy charges.

The court is to hear the case beginning July 1.

Endorsed

The medical report was dated July 13, 2008 and was endorsed by three specialists from the government hospital.

the charge against anwar ibrahim sodomy allegation trial 070808 Part of the report, which was provided to members of the media today by Anwar’s lawyers, stated: “No conclusive clinical findings suggestive of penetration to the anus and no significant defensive wound on the body of the patient (Mohd Saiful)”.

“The most vital evidence in a rape or sodomy charge is to show proof of penetration,” said Anwar’s lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad.

“And it is missing in this case,” he added.

R Sivarasa, who is also one of Anwar’s lawyers, added that the allegation were laid upon Anwar were as a result of bad intention and a political conspiracy.

“Although there are expert statements that there was no penetration, the prosecution still proceeded with the case,” he said.

If this is the case, the medical report from HKL tallies with another medical report from Hospital Pusrawi (Pusat Rawatan Islam).

Saiful had lodged a police report last year, claiming that, Anwar, who is the Permatang Pauh MP, had sodomised him.

Saiful had went to the private hospital for a medical examination before being asked to go to HKL should he want to lodge a police report for sodomy.

The Pusrawi’s medical report, which was leaked to Malaysiakini in July last year, also said there was no sign of anal penetration following a physical examination of Saiful.

Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid, of Pusrawi who had examined Saiful, later went into hiding in fear that his life was in danger.

Evidence must be tendered

The application to quash the sodomy charges is to be heard on June 22.

Amer also told reporters that the prosecution has yet to supply the defence with documents and other materials linked to the case.

“All that was given was the chemistry report and the list of things that were confiscated (from Anwar)… the defence has asked for the original copy of the CCTV recording from the Desa Damansara condominium, which is vital to the defence of Anwar. These, however, have yet to be provided,” said Amer.

“We were only given some blurred photographs and one video recording,” he said adding that the defence has also requested for Saiful’s DNA samples to be sent in for independent testing.

The prosecution, said Amer, must give a statement of favourable facts and evidence no less than four weeks before the trial begins as this is the policy of the AG’s chambers.

S Pathmawathy, Mkini

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PREVIOUS REPORTS:

How, yet again, they are trying to fabricate evidence against Anwar (21 July 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10165/84/

An evening with an ‘accomplice’ (23 July 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10296/84/

The Malay unity sodomy conspiracy (26 July 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10393/84/

Doctor on the run: police want him to fabricate evidence against Anwar (28 July 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10433/84/

Rodwan met Saiful three days earlier (30 July 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10560/84/

Fumbling hospital denial highlights conspiracy (1 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10625/84/

2 notorious cases challenge Malaysia's modesty (2 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10655/84/

Killing two birds with one stone (2 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10674/84/

Clutching at straws: the signs of a dying man (4 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10767/84/

Shafee Abdullah: sodomologist extraordinaire (6 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10883/84/

What the IGP and AG do not know......yet (7 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10901/84/

Money, power and sex: what motivates man (7 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/10977/84/

The real dalang behind the Anwar sodomy allegation (11 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/11183/84/

You said it, babe! (14 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/11393/84/

The truth finally surfaces (22 August 2008) http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/11629/84/

No need to go to the ground, Sham, just talk to Sanusi

I suggest Sham just contact Sanusi and get Tan Sri to agree to become an adviser to the government. Sanusi has been handling this problem while Sham was still not…

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I suggest Sham just contact Sanusi and get Tan Sri to agree to become an adviser to the government. Sanusi has been handling this problem while Sham was still not wearing any underwear, so he knows what to do.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Hisham going to the ground to look at Ah Long problems
By MAZWIN NIK ANIS, The Star

PUTRAJAYA: Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein wants to get to the root of the loan shark problem and will go to the streets on Monday in search for answers.

“I think it is time for me to go to the ground to look at this problem.

“I will visit the hotspots and find out more on this loan shark culture that so many people seem to be depending on and later become victims to.

“I want to meet whoever, be it Ah Long or victims - whoever I can catch first,” he told reporters yesterday.

The number of incidents in which defaulters were attacked and even kidnapped by loan sharks has been in the media limelight of late, and even got the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who expressed shock at the level of cruelty inflicted on defaulters.

One of the more prominent cases involved three men who were rescued by police last month after being held captive for two months by loan sharks when they failed to settle their debts.

The victims, aged 25, 34 and 49, were abducted from Segambut, Semenyih and Gombak and held in a shoplot in Seri Kembangan after failing to settle debts of between RM1,500 and RM4,000 each. They were found chained by their necks and legs, and showed signs of having been beaten by their captors.

*************************************************

I must say the above news report sounds good. But that is all it is meant to be, to sound good. Okay, Sham will do an impressive walkabout. Of course, the walkabout will have to be with members of the media in tow. He will then issue a ‘powerful’ statement, which will probably be given 45 seconds airtime on RTM and TV3. It might even make the front pages of the newspapers the following day. But that will be about it.

When the Kampong Medan race riots erupted back in the early 2000s, Sham also ‘went to the ground’. He visited the University Hospital and spoke to one Indian boy who had lost an arm. Some Malays had chopped off his arm with parangs. The Indian boy related how he was lying on the ground in excruciating pain while a policeman just stood at a distant watching.

The Indian boy shouted for help and the policeman walked over to him. The boy pleaded to be sent to hospital. The policeman stepped on him and said, ”Pergi mampuslah kau Keling.” He then walked away and left the Indian boy to die. He did not die though. He spent a long time in hospital recuperating from his wounds minus an arm.

Sham ‘instructed’ the Ministry officers who were with him to ‘look into the matter’. However, the matter was never looked into and no one was ever brought to book even though the Indian boy was able to identify the policeman concerned.

So much for Sham ‘going to the ground’ to investigate the Kampong Medan tragedy and the role the police played in protecting the citizens from violence and racism. Assume this latest ‘going to the ground’ expedition to be as fruitless as the one he conducted soon after the Kampong Medan race riots.

I have written about the problem of Ah Longs a month or so ago. In that piece I mentioned that about 30 years or so ago the Malay Chamber of Commerce did a study to assess the impact of Ah Longs on small-scale Malay businesses. The study was done in the small fishing town of Dungun in Terengganu.

What we found out was that nearly every Malay petty trader and fisherman in Dungun borrowed money from Ah Longs. The rate of interest they paid was 4% a day. So, for every RM1,000 they borrowed, they had to pay RM40 per day.

Every day, the Ah Longs would send ‘runners’ to collect RM40 from the petty traders and fishermen for every RM1,000 they borrowed. That’s all they had to pay, RM40 per day for every RM1,000 borrowed. The runners were not interested in collecting the principal. They just wanted the interest. The petty traders and fishermen can go on owing on the principal as long as they paid the RM40 for every RM1,000 they borrowed.

This meant the petty traders and fishermen would continue owing the Ah Longs the money they borrowed for the rest of their lives. And the Ah Longs would in turn continue collecting the interest without touching the principal for the rest of their lives. It was like making a pact with the devil. The devil owned you until the day you die and long after you have entered your grave when your family would then have to take over your debt and would have to continue servicing the interest on the never-never.

This matter was brought to the government’s attention but nothing was done about it. And that was 30 years or so ago.

Tan Sri Sanusi Junid can relate a similar story that involved him even earlier, about 40 years or so ago. At that time he was with the Chartered Bank. And the story goes as follows.

Sanusi had tendered his resignation and his Mat Salleh boss called him and asked what it would take to get him to withdraw his resignation and stay with the bank. Sanusi replied that if they gave him a few million Ringgit (equivalent to hundreds of millions today) to lend to the Kedah farmers under a special loan scheme then he would probably stay with the bank.

What Sanusi had discovered was that nearly every Kedah farmer owed money to the Ah Longs and were paying an exorbitant rate of interest just like what the petty traders and fishermen in Dungun were subjected to. The interest came to about 100% per year, which is still comparatively lower than the Dungun rate of interest, which was more than 100% per month.

The Chartered Bank agreed and Sanusi arranged for his officers to go down to the padi fields on motorcycles to look for farmers to lend money to. Eventually, they managed to disburse the money to all the farmers and free them from the clutches of the Ah Long.

Sanusi did not make press statements saying that he was ‘going to the ground’. He just got the bank to agree to give him a few million Ringgit and then he sent his officers into the padi fields to search for farmers in debt. They then gave the farmers loans so that the Ah Longs could be paid off in full and the farmers could be free of the blood-sucking rate or interest.

I suggest Sham just contact Sanusi and get Tan Sri to agree to become an adviser to the government. Sanusi has been handling this problem while Sham was still not wearing any underwear, so he knows what to do. Then set aside RM500 million or so under a special loan scheme to help fishermen, farmers and petty traders escape from their debts. Just go buy off their debts from the Ah Longs.

Even if the government has to finally write-off some of this debt it would still be worth it. If we can spend RM300 million a year on the Terengganu Monsoon Cup and a further hundreds of millions on F1 racing, bicycle races, Merdeka Day celebrations, Prophet Muhammad’s birthday celebrations, and whatnot, what is wrong with writing off RM100 million a year on a more worthy cause?

Prophet Muhammad never asked us to celebrate his birthday. I am sure if we cancel Prophet Muhammad’s birthday celebrations and instead use the money to help fishermen, farmers and petty traders the Prophet would find that more pleasing. And if we also cancel the Merdeka Day celebrations and all those other extravaganzas which cost a lot of money but do not improve our lives one bit that would augur well for the country as well.

I am not a genius. But does it really take a genius to think of all these simple things? Stop the wastage. Just use the limited money we have for the right things. And, as I said, if you don’t know what to do then give Sanusi a ring and ask him what to do. You will be surprised to discover that there are a lot of good ideas in the head of that Tan Sri.

Oh, by the way, if you really want to go to the ground, then investigate the role the police are playing in not only giving the Ah Longs protection but in many cases acting as their runners as well.

P.S. Before you comment please note that this piece is not about Kampong Medan or race riots but about Ah Longs.

Anwar Namakan Najib, Gani Patail dan Musa Hassan Sebagai Perekacipta Tuduhan Liwat

(TV Antara) - Anwar Ibrahim mengemukakan 98 hujah kenapa pertuduhan liwat ke atasnya harus ditolak oleh Mahkamah, termasuk dua laporan perubatan dari hospital swasta dan kerajaan yang mengesahkan tidak ada…

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Beliau turut menamakan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Ketua Polis Negara Musa Hassan dan Peguam Negara Gani Patail sebagai terbabit langsung dalam konspirasi untuk menjatuhkan beliau dengan mendalangi pertuduhan liwat itu.

Anwar mengemukakan hujah-hujah itu dalam affidavit bagi menyokong permohonan berkenaan kepada Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur semalam, kira-kira dua minggu sebelum perbicaraan kes liwat itu dijadualkan bermula pada 1 Julai.

Dalam mengemukakan 98 hujah itu, Anwar menegaskan pertuduhan terhadapnya menyalahguna proses mahkamah atas empat sebab utama :

1- Pertuduhan itu adalah konspirasi politik

2- Pertuduhan itu mencabuli hak beliau dibawah perlembagaan

3- Pendakwaan yang dilakukan adalah berniat jahat tetapi diteruskan walaupun ada keterangan pakar-pakar menafikan kejadian liwat dan

4- kegagalan meneruskan pendakwaan terhadap Saiful di Mahkamah Syariah.

Peguam Anwar Sivarasa Rasiah dan Amer Hamzah hari ini merujuk kepada laporan perubatan oleh tiga pakar Hospital Kuala Lumpur yang merumuskan tidak ada bukti Saiful diliwat.

Laporan awal oleh doktor Pusat Perubatan Pusrawi juga membuat rumusan sedemikian dan disertakan dalam affidavit Anwar memohon mahkamah membatalkan pertuduhan itu.

Dalam affidavit itu, Anwar berkata Perdana Menteri Najib Razak turut memainkan peranan di dalam konspirasi kes liwat terkini kerana menganggap Anwar sebagai ancaman utama kepada beliau.

“Lantaran itu, pertuduhan yang sengaja diada- adakan terhadap saya dalam kes terkini adalah satu konspirasi untuk memastikan agar saya tidak menggugat kerjaya politik Najib,” kata Anwar dalam affidavit itu.

Anwar juga mengingatkan bahawa Najib telah menafikan pernah berjumpa Saiful tetapi “akhirnya mengaku ada menemui Saiful sebelum beliau membuat laporan palsu terhadap saya.”

“Mengapakan Saiful tidak terus membuat laporan polis serta merta sekiranya benar dia telah diliwat sepertimana yang didakwa? Apakah perlunya untuk beliau berjumpa dengan Najib,” tegas Anwar.

“Saya menegaskan bahawa Najib telah terlibat dalam usaha membuat laporan palsu terhadap saya,” tambah Anwar.

Anwar juga berkata kes liwat terhadapnya kali ini sekali lagi membabitkan Peguam Negara Gani Patail dan Ketua Polis Negara Musa Hassan yang memainkan peranan penting dalam memalsukan keterangan terhadapnya dalam kes-kes 1988 dan insiden mata lebam.

“Gani Patil dan Musa Hassan terlibat dan merupakan sebahagian daripada konspirasi untuk menyediakan laporan polis palsu… berhubung penangkapan saya” pada tahun 1988 kata Anwar dalam afidavit itu.

Kedua-dua mereka juga terbabit dalam konspirasi untuk menyediakan laporan perubatan yang palsu oleh seorang doktor yang tidak pernah memeriksa Anwar dalam insiden mata lebam Anwar dipukul oleh Ketua Polis Negara ketika itu Rahim Nor.

“Saya menegaskan bahawa pertuduhan terhadap saya dalam kes terkini adalah satu taktik untuk memastikan saya akan dipenjarakan atas kesalahan yang tidak saya lakukan dan juga untuk menutup kesalahan mereka (Gani dan Musa) sepertimana yang saya dedahkan,’ kata Anwar.

“Kedua- dua mereka tahu bahawa saya telah memperolehi maklumat mengenai salah laku mereka dan cara terbaik untuk mereka mengalih perhatian rakyat dan menutup kesalahan mereka ialah dengan sekali lagi mencipta pertuduhan baru dan mendakwa saya,” kata Anwar.

Anwar berkata tindakan yang diambil oleh Gani dan Musa mirip dengan perlakuan mereka dalam kes-kes 1998.

“Sejak awal (1998), apabila saya dituduh di Mahkamah secara mala fide (niat jahat), terdapat percubaan dan tindakan memalsukan keterangan terhadap saya dengan memperalatkan institusi kerajaan seperti Polis, Jabatan Peguam Negara, Jabatan Kimia dan lain-lain,” kata Anwar dalam afadivitnya itu.

Dalam kes rasuahnya, Anwar berkata sampel darahnya dicuri untuk ujian DNA oleh pegawai polis Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof untuk “satu penipuan yang nyata.”

Dalam kes liwat, Anwar berkata pihak polis dan pendakwaan jelas menggunakan manipulasi dan tipu-helah untuk memperolehi keterangan palsu daripada pengadu Azizah Abu Bakar yang banyak memberi kenyataan bercanggah.

Pembohonan oleh Azizah akhirnya ditolak oleh Mahkamah Persekutuan yang menerima rayuan Anwar dan membebaskan dari penjara pada tahun September 2004.

Anwar menguatkan hujahnya lagi dengan merujuk kepada cubaan Peguam Negara Gani Patail untuk memeras kenyataan palsu daripada R.Nallakarupan dan penderaan oleh polis terhadap Sukma Dermawan dan Munawar Anees.

Beliau berkata afadivitnya jelas menghuraikan bukti bahawa pendakwaan terbaru terhadapnya adalah pendakwaan terhadap saya dalam kes terkini” berniat jahat dan penyalahgunaan proses undang-undang yang ketara pada peringkat tertinggi.

PAS spat worsens, Nik Aziz calls for meeting

By Adib Zalkapli - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — Nasharudin Mat Isa continued to come under pressure as 10 PAS lawmakers today declared their support for spiritual…

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By Adib Zalkapli - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — Nasharudin Mat Isa continued to come under pressure as 10 PAS lawmakers today declared their support for spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat in opposing the unity government idea.

“We fully support Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s stand on this matter,” the MPs said in a joint statement.

Led by Kuala Krai MP Dr Hatta Ramli, they declared their commitment to uphold the decision of the last muktamar to strengthen Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

The statement came just hours after two vice-presidents, Datuk Mahfuz Omar and Salahudin Ayub, urged Nasharudin to meet Nik Aziz to resolve the matter.

“Anyone who wants to work for a unity government is going against the muktamar. If the idea is pursued, it has to be done outside the party,” said Khalid Samad, the PAS MP for Shah Alam.

The 10 lawmakers represent a majority of the party’s 19 MPs who are not in the top leadership. The remaining four MPs – PAS has a total of 23 – are party president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, Nasharudin and the party vice-presidents who have so far remained neutral on the issue.

Other than Mahfuz and Salahudin, the MPs who endorsed the statement are Dzulkefly Ahmad (Kuala Selangor), Kamarudin Jaffar (Tumpat), Siti Zailah Yusof (Rantau Panjang), Dr Mariah Mahmud (Kota Raja), Dr Lo’lo’ Ghazali (Titiwangsa), Dr Mohd Hayati Othman (Pendang), Taib Azamudden (Baling), Mujahid Yusof Rawa (Parit Buntar).

Yesterday, Nik Aziz asked Nasharudin, who was elected deputy president for a third term in the recent party elections, to resign as lawmaker and leave the party if he wanted to pursue the idea of a unity government.

Nik Aziz made the statement after Nasharudin welcomed Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s remark that PAS was sincere in wanting to form unity government.

Today, the influential Kelantan mentri besar said he would call for a meeting soon with Nasharudin and party president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang to resolve their differences.

Nik Aziz told reporters in Kota Baru that Nasharudin has yet to contact him.

Broadband is snailband

Rais: No plan to register bloggers
By Husna Yusop and Giam Say Khoon | The Sun

KUALA LUMPUR (June 18, 2009) : The government has no plans to list or…

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Rais: No plan to register bloggers
By Husna Yusop and Giam Say Khoon | The Sun

KUALA LUMPUR (June 18, 2009) : The government has no plans to list or register bloggers and they are still free to post information on the internet, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said today.

“There are various processes of disseminating information these days. Whatever the authorities do, the websites are still free to post any information on the Internet.

“At the moment, we do not list or register bloggers operating on the Net. And, there is no plan to do that. However, to maintain harmony in society, they (bloggers) must follow the laws,” he told Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur).

Lim in his supplementary question said the plan to register bloggers, made by some quarters recently, was a backward move.

Last month, Rais was reported saying the proposal was good but required indepth study.

Lim also complained about the broadband service which he said can also be called “narrowband” or “snailband”.

To this, Rais said the government has put aside RM2.4 billion to improve the service in the long term so that it could meet the original objectives.

He said at present, the rate of IT penetration in households is at 23% and the government is confident it can reach 50% by end of next year.

“At the moment, this service is widely enjoyed by the people in the Klang Valley. However, we will do more to improve it to reach the remote areas and all schools,” he added.

To the original question from Datuk Ismail Abdul Muttalib (BN-Maran), Rais said from 2005 until now, action has been taken against 24 cases involving compounds worth more than RM380,000 under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

“These private broadcaster were compounded for various offences, including breaching the conditions set under the broadcasting licence,” he added.

As for offences regarding abuse of websites, six cases involving eight individuals have been brought to court for insulting the Sultan of Perak whereby one of them had pleaded guilty and fined RM10,000.

Any MIC leader can contest deputy presidency: Samy Vellu

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 June 2009: MIC president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu said today he would not prevent any party leader from contesting the post of deputy president.

"Anybody can…

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Motion to sack IGP likely to fail

By Gan Pei Ling
thenutgraph.com

PETALING JAYA, 18 June 2009: DAP Member of Parliament (MP) for Beruas, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, wants to move a motion…

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Govt has no plans to abolish Sedition Act

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 June 2009: The government has no plan to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 as its provisions are still relevant at present, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein…

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No medical evidence Saiful Bukhari was sodomised

By Zedeck Siew
thenutgraph.com

(Pic by Sanja Gjenero / sxc.hu)

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 June 2009: A medical report by Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) has found no…

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By Zedeck Siew
thenutgraph.com

(Pic by Sanja Gjenero / sxc.hu)

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 June 2009: A medical report by Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) has found no evidence of anal penetration of Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, raising real doubts about the credibility of his sodomy charge against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The findings of the report, disclosed by Anwar's lawyers at a press conference in Parliament today, was attached to an affidavit filed by Anwar at the High Court yesterday to strike out the charge. The Opposition Leader, who is also Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)'s adviser, also wants a court order to stay his sodomy trial, which has been set for 1 July.

Part of the report, made available to the media, held that: "No conclusive clinical findings suggestive of penetration to the anus and no significant defensive wound on the body of the patient (Saiful Bukhari)".

"In any sexual offence case, the first thing to prove is penetration," said Anwar's lawyer, Amer Hamzah Arshad.

"From the evidence before us, there was no penetration," Amer added.

The HKL report, dated 13 July 2008, was endorsed by three medical specialists, and corroborates the earlier findings of Hospital Pusrawi medical officer Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid.

Citing the "clear medical evidence", PKR vice-president R Sivarasa said there was reason to believe that the charge against Anwar was mala fide, or made in bad faith.

Sivarasa "Why is this being brought to court?" Sivarasa said.

"This case, considering its circumstances, is a result of a political conspiracy, and clear evidence of abuse of the judicial process," he said, adding that it was designed to destroy Anwar's political career.

Saiful Bukhari, who worked as Anwar's aide in PKR, lodged a police report accusing the opposition leader of sodomising him on 28 June 2008.

On 7 Aug 2008, Anwar was charged with sodomy under Section 377B of the Penal Code for committing "unnatural sex" with another, instead of Section 377C. Section 377C is used when someone commits "unnatural sex" on another against the other's will or without his or her consent.

Subsequently, on 15 Aug 2008, Saiful Bukhari swore on the Quran in the Federal Territory Mosque in Kuala Lumpur that Anwar had forcefully sodomised him.

His swearing on the Quran, which was widely publicised in the media, was just before the 26 Aug 2008 Permatang Pauh by-election which Anwar was contesting. Anwar won the seat which led to his return to Parliament since his sacking from government in 1998.

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Press Release: Amend Employment Act to protect all domestic workers

The Malaysian Bar commends the Human Resources Ministry's announcement that it will amend the Employment Act to require employers to accord domestic workers one compulsory day off per week. This…

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The Malaysian Bar commends the Human Resources Ministry's announcement that it will amend the Employment Act to require employers to accord domestic workers one compulsory day off per week. This is a small step forward in upholding the rights of hundreds of thousands of domestic workers who are prone to severe abuse and labour exploitation because they receive scant protection under the Employment Act.

It is crucial that this proposal be implemented by amending the Employment Act because the imposition of a statutory obligation will have far greater weight, and will allow the Ministry to enforce the provision and prosecute those who breach it. Currently, numerous terms of the Employment Act are specifically inapplicable to domestic workers. Consequently, they are not entitled to a day of rest per week, paid public holidays, annual leave, sick leave, maternity nor termination benefits. They are also excluded from provisions that limit the number of hours that they can be compelled to work.

Codification of the Minister's proposal will also make it applicable to all domestic workers, both local and foreign.

While the "compulsory day off" requirement should also be incorporated into individual employment contracts, this should be a secondary, and supplementary, step. As such contracts are private in nature, the contractual provisions do not impose enforceable statutory duties upon employers that can be implemented by the Government. Aggrieved workers would have to pursue legal remedies under private contract law, which accords them less protection. Furthermore, local domestic workers generally do not have such contracts.

Domestic workers are human beings and should benefit from the same rights as other workers, without discrimination. It is unjust and unacceptable that they can be required to work 20-hour days, seven days a week, all year round. Such labour practices, which are a form of bonded labour, are abhorrent and inhumane, and we call on those who oppose the Government's proposal to examine their consciences. It is utterly hypocritical of us to be aghast when domestic workers are abused if we continue to oppose this progressive move by the Government.

By granting domestic workers a compulsory day of rest, we uphold their rights as workers while simultaneously help to reduce instances of abuse. Abuses are most rampant where domestic workers work in isolated and secluded situations and are vulnerable because they have no access to those who can assist them when needed.

While the Government's move is a step in the right direction, the Malaysian Bar also calls for the following additional measures to be taken without delay:

(a) Limit the number of hours that domestic workers can be compelled to work per day;

(b) Limit the types/amount of work that they can be required to do, such as working at an employer's home and also place of business, or for an employer's friends/relatives, or work that is disrespectful of the worker's religious or cultural beliefs and practices;

(c) Codify strong sanctions against breaches of Employment Act provisions and other exploitative labour practices;

(d) Enforce the law that stipulates domestic workers be allowed to retain their passports in their possession; and

(e) Develop a simple procedure whereby a domestic worker who is abused can change her employer rather than face repatriation to her home country, because many domestic workers tolerate severe abuse to
avoid repatriation.

We call on the Government to take greater care to protect domestic workers, who make up a vulnerable and often-exploited group of workers. The manner in which we treat such groups is the litmus test of how civilised we are as a nation.

Ragunath Kesavan
President
Malaysian Bar

18 June 2009

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