Minor Dalit girl gang-raped, murdered in Alwar

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

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

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

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

American view of Malaysia outdated

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

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

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 As a result, there is a tendency among Americans to hold an idealised (and outdated) image of Malaysia as a successful multi-racial and multi-religious paradise, an Asian economic dynamo, and a stable and moderate Muslim democracy.

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

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

A date for the history books

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A flawed democracy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Refugee deal ignores Malaysia’s record

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

By Eric Paulsen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dying in detention

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Najib: Don’t dispute RCI report on Teoh

The prime minister said the findings were based on truth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- Bernama

In Malaysia, When in Doubt, Blame the Jews

By Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Huffington Post 

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

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

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

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

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

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

And Mahathir is an anti-Semite.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AirAsia Moves Corporate HQ from KL to Jakarta

Last Call for Jakarta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(With reporting from the Jakarta Globe)

Habeas corpus made meaningless!

P Ramakrishnan - President  Aliran


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ini petikan entry dari edyesdotcom

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

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

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

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

Crowds throng ceramahs, vigil

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

Photograph: NashitaMN

Photograph: NashitaMN

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

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

Kajang Abim dinner - Photograph: MediaRakyat

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