Statutory rape cases: Who is the law protecting?

The Women's Centre for Change Penang (WCC) notes the recent decisions on the imposition of bonds for good behaviour in two separate statutory rape trials where the victims were about 13 years of age and the offenders were 19 and 21 respectively at the time of the offence.
Both the victims were said to have consented to the act.

Statutory rape is when a man has sex with a girl below the age of 16 years with or without her consent.
The law is to protect young girls from being sexually exploited and is based on the assumption that young girls are unable to give informed consent.

The social reality today is that teenagers can be in sexual relationships where one or both are below the age of 16 years.

There is no minimum jail sentence for those convicted of statutory rape where consent is said to have been given unless the girl is below 12 years of age.

There are, however, adults or older teenagers who prey on naïve, vulnerable under aged girls and although the sex may be allegedly ‘consensual', the element of exploitation is very real.
While the courts may have had good reasons to make the judgments in both the cases, WCC is concerned that the impact of the sexual exploitation of the young victims may not have been acknowledged or taken into account during the sentencing.
That the act was ‘consensual' often merely points to the fact that no physical violence or coercion took place.
It is imperative that we ask ourselves whether a child aged 12 or 13 is able to effectively ‘consent' to a sexual relationship.
We also need to be aware of the consequences to a child's emotional and physical well being when she enters into a sexual relationship especially if she is a young adolescent.
Furthermore the manipulation and manner of exploitation of the young girl must also be considered.
It is important that the dispensation of justice in every case of statutory rape reflect various considerations including the impact on the victim.
WCC reiterates the call for reproductive health rights and awareness education for our youth.
It is urgently needed.

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PREMA DEVARAJ is the program director for WCC, Penang.

Don't disrupt Merdeka event, Janji Demokrasi NGOs told

Montpellier: Police Attacked by Mob While Trying to Arrest 'Jeune'

Note the remarkable similarity between this story and the last one I posted. This is what it is like in France now, as the 'no-go areas' extend ever further across the country. This is what makes a no-go area a no-go area. The police can't arrest anyone without coming under attack from Muslim mobs.

Three agents of the Montpellier anti-crime brigade were wounded on Tuesday evening in an estate in Montpellier when they tried to arrest a 14-year-old adolescent who was pushing a stolen scooter, it has been learned from corroborating sources.

At noon, the police officers were "attacked by the family of the 'jeune', friends and a group which formed rapidly" in the district of Cévennes, in the west of the City, and they were struck with iron bars, indicated the assistant prosecutor Patrick Desjardins.

In the confusion, the minor took flight, while his parents, aged 34 and 37, were taken into custody, along with another 'jeune', added Mr Desjardins. The adolescent returned to the scene one hour later, his hands still bound by the handcuffs behind his back, and was arrested in turn, specified the Hérault director of public safety.

Transported to the emergency department of Montpellier teaching hospital, the officers are suffering from a "broken wrist, damaged finger and an ear in poor condition", according to the prosecutor's office.

‘Young Power’ wants Indian-based Pakatan party

Fed up with way things are, a group of young Indians are planning to form an Indian-based component party in the opposition coalition.

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of young Indians are planning to form an Indian-based component party in Pakatan Rakyat.

Talking to FMT, one of the members G Krishnan said they were fed-up with both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan leaders with regard to issues affecting the Indian community.

“We call our group ‘Young Power’ and our goal is to help the Indian community become on par with the other races. Look at our nation. It is a Malay-dominated Chinese-controled nation,” he added.

He insisted that Young Power was not against the Malays and Chinese but focussed on upholding the rights of Indians.

“It is unfair to talk about multi-racialism when the Indians live in deplorable conditions compared with other races,” he added.

Krishnan said that Young Power had been collecting feedback from community leaders regarding the possibility of forming a new party within the Pakatan framework.

“We sent SMS to about 30 Indian Pakatan and BN elected reps, NGO leaders, businessmen, celebrities on Aug 25,” he added.

According to Krishnan, the response was positive with even DAP MPs welcoming the move.

He said that on Aug 26 and 28, Young Power sent text messages to grassroots leaders, who also mostly backed the suggestion.

Krishnan pointed out that there was only one Indian in Pakatan’s 30-member council.

“Is Pakatan going to say that there are no capable Indians to be members in the council. How many state chairmen or bureaus are headed by Indians in PKR or DAP?” he asked.

“Do not ask why we [Young Power] did not raise the same issue with BN because we voted for Pakatan and not for BN in the last general-election,” he said.

“The issue is not not about how many seats Pakatan is going to give to the Indians but how are they going to treat the community,” he added.

Krishnan also said that Young Power had identified several business tycoons who were willing to fund their movement and more details would be made public soon.

Janji Ditepati insults Indians, says senator

DAP’s Ramakrishnan calls on the community to treat 13th GE as payback time.

GEORGE TOWN: The theme of this year’s Merdeka celebrations is a grave insult to Malaysian Indians, at least from the viewpoint of Senator S Ramakrishnan of DAP.

In a hard hitting statement calling on Indians to punish Barisan Nasional at the next general election, Ramakrishnan said no ethnic community had suffered more than the Indians from unfulfilled promises that Umno and its political allies had been making for the last 55 years.

“It’s payback time,” he said, referring to the 13th general election. “Indians need a political change. They need to redeem their dignity and pride. It’s now or never.”

He accused Umno of having designed a political system that neglects Indians and isolates them from the mainstream political and socio-economic development of the country.

“The Umno government has deliberately made Indians politically irrelevant today,” he said.

He claimed that Umno had maintained its “racist attitude and arrogance” even after suffering unprecedented electoral losses in 2008.

He called on Indians to assert their pride by rejecting the deception of sweet words and other vote-baiting tactics.

“Umno thinks Indians are beggars who don’t deserve job or business opportunities but only hampers and rice bags.”

He said the intake of Indians into the civil service had been negligible, noting that the figures had been sliding through the decades.

According to his statistics, Indians currently account for only 4.1% of civil servants, dropping from 5.12% in 2005 and 17.4% in 1971. Most of them work in Tamil schools.

He rejected government claims that Indians eschew civil service jobs, claiming that their applications were often thrown into dustbins.

“So long as Umno is in power, there is no hope for an increased Indian intake into the civil service.”

He cited a World Bank report saying that Malaysia could have attracted five times its foreign direct investments if not for New Economic Policy (NEP).

He said Malaysia was the only country to use ethnicity as the main qualification for entry into the civil service and the only country to export home grown talent and import migrant workers.

“But the BN government dreams of forming a world class civil service.”

Why disregard people’s safety?

Despite a court ruling that acknowledged the threat to the safety of 10 families in Green Cow, developers pushed ahead with their development by obtaining an ex-parte injunction.

KUALA LUMPUR: An activist has questioned the motives of two developers in Cameron Highlands in disregarding the safety of 10 families in their pursuit to build four-storey shoplots on a hillslope in Green Cow, Kea Farm.

“Why are they disregarding the safety of the people in favour of profits?” Cameron Highlands PSM secretary-general B Suresh Kumar asked.

On Oct 13 last year, local residents S Nagarajan, S Thanabalan and Suresh were detained for blocking bulldozers from entering the land that is to be developed.

“We were charged with wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation,” said Suresh.

However on July 30 this year, Cameron Highlands magistrate Nik Habri Muhamad released the three without their defence being called on the grounds that residents acted to restrain developers because their homes were under the threat of being demolished.

Nik Habri had also pointed out that the bulldozer driver had no licence and a developer’s permit to move the land was also doubtful.

The rest of the residents had set up camp at the land since May 25 this year to prevent the developers from developing the land.

Meanwhile, the first developer had obtained a court order against Suresh and three of the residents on Aug 17 so that they can continue with the development.

On July 17, Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob and MIC president G Palanivel in a joint press statement acknowledged that the residents living near the hill were in danger and announced that a plot of land had been identified to relocate all 10 families but no action has been taken yet.

“We want the state government to provide land for the residents and compensation from the developers to rebuild their homes,” said Suresh.

PSM chairman Nasir Hashim also criticised the lackadaisical attitude of the developers.

PAS environment bureau chairman Zulkifli Omar, who was also present during the press conference, said this case proved that the government’s “Janji Ditepati” Merdeka theme was merely a slogan.

“It is odd to note that the district office has given the green light to develop the steep slopes,” Zulkifli added.

Suresh also announced the launch of Green Cow Cameron Legal Fund.

Chinese firms down on Malaysia’s prospects, survey shows

ACCIM said many of its members have been hit by shrinking orders and rising costs. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 ― Malaysia’s Chinese business community have poured cold water on the government’s goal to move Malaysia out of the middle-income trap, with a staggering 72.9 per cent saying they are unhappy with the state of the economy ahead of the 13th general election, a nationwide survey has found.

Many small medium enterprises and small medium industries (SME/SMI) have also “appeared not” to have benefited from the Najib administration’s many initiatives, leading to their pessimistic outlook of the country’s economy for the year ahead, the Malaysia Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ACCCIM) survey said.

According to the survey report, which gathered feedback from local Chinese businesses on the economic situation for the first half of 2012, the major factors adversely affecting business performances during this period included the increase in operating costs and prices of raw materials, government policies such as the implementation of a minimum wage, shortage in manpower, and domestic competition.

“Many businesses have become less optimistic, on the back of shrinking new orders and production, as they feel the pinch from weakening global demand, while efforts by the government at the macro level may not yet have filtered down to them.

“They are being squeezed by rising costs of doing business,” ACCCIM president Datuk Lim Kok Cheong said at a press conference today.

The survey polled 374 respondents mainly from the wholesale and retail sectors (24.3 per cent); manufacturing (19.5 per cent); professional and business services (14.2 per cent); construction (8.8 per cent); tourism, shopping, hotels, restaurants, recreation and entertainment (5.3 per cent); transportation, forwarding and warehousing (5.1 per cent); finance and insurance (5.1 per cent); and others (17.6 per cent).

Some 81 per cent were domestic market oriented, while the remaining 19 per cent focused on “both domestic and export” markets (12.6 per cent) or just export markets (6.4 per cent).

In summary, the survey found that for the first half of 2012, the Malaysian economy had only experienced little growth following slight dips in sales performance, production volumes, inventories and payment collections, a drop in orders from both the local and overseas markets, weakening local sales prices, a soft employment market and a drop in investment in new resources or plans.

“The increase in operating costs and prices of raw materials has become the greatest concern among businesses.

“The increase of one percentage point in EPF (Employees Provident Fund) contribution for workers earning under RM5,000, the imposition of a one per cent feed-in tariff and impending implementation of minimum wage are perceived to aggravate operating costs and affect the businesses of SMEs,” said Lim.

According to the survey, 55.9 per cent of respondents polled believed that the government’s recently introduced minimum wage policy would only bring about negative effects on the businesses, despite raising the general income of Malaysians.

“The government is advised to undertake further research and dialogues with the industry players, and finally implement different wage structures according to the different sectors and regions in Malaysia, to take into account the differences that are prevalent in various businesses and different living standards,” the survey report said.

It said that 70 per cent of respondents had said they would be more supportive of a wage floor policy if the wage structures differed according to sectors and regions.

At the same time, Lim said employers were also pre-empting more cost increases when another ruling — the extension of the private sector retirement age to 60 years — is implemented.

“Wage costs are now expected to further increase for businesses through the extended retirement age of the older staff,” he said.

The survey also found that despite the widespread concern felt by Chinese businesses here towards the euro zone crisis, 45 per cent said it had not impacted their businesses.

“They were shielded somewhat by stronger domestic demand, on the back of higher fiscal spending through various handouts and the implementation of projects under the ETP (Economic Transformation Programme), and various economic corridors,” the report said.

The Najib administration is expected to call for polls within months, hoping to ride on a feel-good factor arising from its reported plan to disburse another round of RM500 cash handouts to lower-income households nationwide.

The Malaysian Insider reported last week that the move, to be slotted under Budget 2013, is expected to boost the ratings of Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition ahead of the federal polls.

The RM500 paid out to nearly five million families at a cost to taxpayers of RM2.6 billion earlier this year saw Najib’s approval ratings shoot up to 69 per cent, largely due to a surge of support among poorer households.

But the aftermath of violence that erupted between police and demonstrators at the April 28 Bersih rally for free and fair elections saw his popularity slide to 65 per cent last month.

Najib will table the Budget on September 28 and besides the fresh handout, he is expected to announce other measures to boost domestic spending and the economy in a bid to head off a worsening economic outlook as he prepares to call his first elections.

The economy grew at a surprising pace of 5.4 per cent in the second quarter, blowing away economists’ expectations and potentially giving rise to a feel-good factor ahead of the general elections.

But the good news is not expected to last, as the global outlook is likely to affect Malaysian exports.

Malaysia’s surprisingly strong second-quarter economic growth, despite weakening exports, was largely due to the buffer of ongoing construction projects and increased spending attributed to civil servant salary hikes and government cash handouts, say economists, which could point to uneven growth in the months ahead.

Police response failed to explain vast double disconnect as safest country in Southeast Asia with double-digit reductions in crime rate yet with worst fear of crime suffered by Malaysians in nation’s 55-year history

While the weeklong belated reply by the PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) public relations officer ACP Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf refuting the “whistleblower” expose “Crime statistics: Let the truth be told” on doctoring of crime statistics is being studied, the bleak and undeniable fact is that the police response failed to explain the vast double disconnect of Malaysia as the safest country in Southeast Asia with double-digit reduction in crime rate yet with the worst fear of crime suffered by Malaysians in the nation’s 55 year history.

Recently, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysians should be proud of the country’s position as the safest country in Southeast Asia in the Global Peace Index.

This was echoed in the 2011 Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Annual Report on Reducing Crime NKRA, which said:

“In the fifth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI) released in May 2011, Malaysia was declared the most peaceful country in Southeast Asia and the 4th safest in the Asia Pacific region behind New Zealand, Japan and Australia. The country rose three spots to 19th place, supplanting Singapore as the highest-ranked Southeast Asian nation. In its GPI rankings, the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace also placed Malaysia as the 19th safest and most peaceful country out of 153 nations worldwide. This is the fifth successive year that Malaysia has improved on its GPI score.” (p 55)

In his foreword to the 2011 GTP Annual Report, the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein wrote:

“In 2011, we delivered another year of solid results with lower crime rates reported nationwide…..The journey may be a long and arduous one, but we are committed to ensuring that the rakyat in any part of our nation are safe at all time.”

Do Najib and Hishammuddin really believe not only that Malaysians “in any part of our nation are safe at all time”, but that we have become “the safest country in Southeast Asia”?

Hishammuddin’s home town is Johore Baru and he himself would know what is the answer to the question: Whether one feels safer from crime and the fear of crime in JB or when crossing the causeway to Singapore?

If the answer – and there could only be one answer – is that one would feel safer from crime and the fear of crime when in Singapore than in Johore Baru, how can the Prime Minister and the Home Minister rely on the Global Peace Index (GPI) claiming that Malaysia is the “safest country in Southeast Asia” when crime and safety constitute only one-third of the 23 sub-indicators of the GPI?

The 2011 GTP Annual Report claimed many “Big Wins” in its Reduce Crime NKRA – most importantly:

“39.7% Drop in Street Crime and 11.1% Drop in Index Crime – Malaysia Experiences Back-to-Back, Double-Digit Reductions in Crime Nationwide.”

The GTP and the Reducing Crime NKRA has promised Malaysians “a new era of crime fighting”. Malaysians want assurance that what is really delivered is not “a new era of crime fighting statistics”.

This is why the Prime Minister and the Home Minister must convince Malaysians why there is the the vast double disconnect between on the one hand, the government claim of Malaysia as the safest country in Southeast Asia with double-digit reductions in crime rate yet with the worst fear of crime suffered by Malaysians in nation’s 55-year history!

DAP National Publicity Secretary and MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua has pointed out that from the PDRM response to the “whistleblower” allegation of manipulation of crime statistics, although “index crime” had dropped from 209,572 in 2007 to 157,891 in 2011 or 24.7% over the period, “non-index crime” had increased from 42,752 to 72,106 or a massive 68.7% over the same period.

Based on PDRM data, “non-index crime” is increasing annually as a proportion of total crime since 2007 – increasing from 16.9% of total crime in 2007 to 21.9% (2008) to 22.8% (2009) to 29.8% (2010) to a record of 31.4% in 2011.

Is this the result of data manipulation or what the “whistleblower” has charged as a systematic re-classifying of “index crime” to “non-index crime” cases.

What Malaysians would want to know is why the PDRM and PEMANDU have not published any information whatsoever about non-index crime prior to the “whistleblower” expose.

The authorities should release full details about the “non-index crime” for every year for the past 15 years going back to 1997 to enable a verification exercise to be carried out to check on the veracity and authencity of the GTP and NKRA crime statistics.

No jail for electrician who committed statutory rape twice

The Sun 
by Bernard Cheah

GEORGE TOWN (Aug 28, 2012): An electrician was today bound over for three years on a RM25,000 good behaviour bond after being convicted of raping his then 12-year-old girlfriend, twice last year.

In handing down the sentence, sessions court judge Nisa Abdul Aziz said Chuah Guan Jiu, 22, (pix) is still young and has a bright future ahead of him.

"According to the probation report, he does not have a criminal background," she said adding that he was not highly educated as he had dropped out of school in Form Two.

Moreover, the court had found that the sexual act was consensual between Chuah and the victim, and he had not tricked her into the act.

Chuah had been found guilty of statutory rape by the court on July 20 this year, for raping the minor, then aged 12 years and 10 months.

The offence occurred at his flat in Jalan Ru 1, Air Itam here between 7am and 1pm on July 18 last year, and between 2.25pm and 2.45pm the following day.

The offence under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years' jail and whipping.

In mitigation on Monday, Chuah counsel's Yusuf Idris had asked the court not to impose a custodial sentence as his client was young and had repented for his actions.

"He has a good job now, and has many years ahead of him," Yusuf said, adding that Chuah, who lives with his parents and a younger sibling, now earns about RM30 per day.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Cheah Yit urged the court to impose a stern punishment as the victim was a child.

"They were dating, and the accused (Chuah) should have protected her, but instead took advantage of her," he said.

Lim said claiming to be ill, Chuah had persuaded the victim to skip school and follow him to his home, which then led to the offence being committed.

The sentence handed down on Chuah today mirrored that of the Malacca sessions court in the case of national bowler Nor Afizal Azizan who was bound over for five years for good behaviour for statutory rape on his girlfriend in July last year.

The Court of Appeal in its written judgement handed down on Monday had set aside the five-year jail term imposed on Nor Afizal by the Malacca High Court which had allowed the prosecution's appeal for an enhanced sentence after the sessions court bound him over for good behaviour.

In clarifying the misconception on the sentence under Section 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) which was generally seen by the public as a mere slap on the hand, Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif stressed that Nor Afizal had not been exonerated of the offence.

"Like the learned sessions court judge (whose decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal), we are hopeful that the suspended sentence would give the appellant (Nor Afizal) another chance in life, and that he would turn over a new leaf."

Raus said however that the observations of the Court of Appeal was not to be misconstrued as intending to have blanket application or applying to all cases involving young offenders charged with the similar offence as Nor Afizal.

Organiser Of Gathering Reminded To Abide By Peaceful Assembly Act

SHAH ALAM, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- The organiser of the 'Himpunan Janji Bersih', scheduled to be held in Dataran Merdeka tomorrow, has been reminded to abide by the law under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the organiser should have officially applied to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) first, because Dataran Merdeka was under its jurisdiction.

"The owner of the area (Dataran Merdeka) is DBKL, and we cannot directly intervene on matters of issuing permission.

"Nevertheless, we are still waiting for fresh development from DBKL and to date, I have not received official information on the status of the application," he told a press conference after opening a national-level Criminal Consequences Awareness Campaign organised by the Malaysian Indian Youths Development Foundation here Wednesday.

He said this when asked to comment on the gathering which was scheduled to be held at Dataran Merdeka Thursday, in conjunction with Independence Day celebration this year.

Hishammuddin said the police would safeguard the security of all parties at the gathering.

He believed the majority of the people would not be duped into joining the gathering, as what had transpired during the Bersih 3 gathering was still fresh in their mind.

The Sarawak-Tasmania link

Hydro Tasmania is helping Sarawak build more dams, displacing natives in the process, while a Sarawak timber firm, after extensive logging in Sarawak, is now involved in logging the forests of Tasmania. 

Dongria’s message to Vedanta ahead of AGM: “We won’t leave our land”

The Dongria Kondh have vowed to defend their sacred mountain from being mined for bauxite.

© Lewis Davids/Survival

 

Ahead of the AGM of Vedanta Resources in London today, India’s Dongria Kondh tribe has sent a strong message to the company’s chairman Anil Agarwal.

‘Even if Anil Agarwal himself comes here, we won’t leave our land. We will use all our strength to make them leave this place. Let us live our lives in peace,’ two Dongria women said to Survival.
The FTSE100 company is intent on mining the Dongria’s mountain for bauxite.

Message to Anil Agarwal 

The Dongria tell the Vedanta chairman to leave them in peace.

The company’s failure both to consult with the Dongria, and to get all the necessary clearances for the mine before starting works on its refinery, has damaged Vedanta financially, as well as its reputation. Last week, it was announced that running its refinery without being able to mine locally has cost the company over US$540 million (£340 million).

In 2010 the Indian government found Vedanta guilty of ‘total contempt’ for the law and for the rights of the Dongria Kondh. It was denied permission to mine in the Niyamgiri Hills, the only home of this ‘particularly vulnerable’ tribe. But an appeal in the Supreme Court could overturn this historic decision.
Dongria spokesman Lodu Sikaka said, ‘If the company stops trying to take our mountain, we will stop suffering. But if they stay, we will suffer, the mountains will suffer, the earth, the forests, the water and winds will suffer. Because of this we have started getting lots of different diseases, fever, diarrhoea. Because of these illnesses, some of us have died.’

Lodu’s Message

 

Dongria call on Vedanta to leave ahead of AGM

Stephen Corry, Director of Survival said today, ‘Ignoring tribal rights does not pay: it devastates people’s lives, destroys companies’ reputations and – as Vedanta has found – is financially reckless. The Dongria have the right to be consulted, and to give – or withhold – their consent. If Vedanta had talked to them first and respected their fundamental attachment to their land, they would have saved themselves and the Dongria a lot of trouble.’

Waythamoorthy seeks meeting with Najib and Anwar

Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairperson P Waythamoorthy, who returned to Malaysia earlier this month, has requested to meet Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim separately to discuss approaches to permanently addressing the socio-economic problems of marginalised Indians.
In a statement issued today, he said, “Hindraf believes all past and current approaches fall way below the power curve needed to resolve the problem permanently.
“It is also Hindraf’s belief that a permanent solution and the mechanics to arriving at the solution lies first in a proper definition of the problem, something we believe has eluded the policy-makers and problem-solvers up to now.
“To achieve this there need to be prerequisite political will. This is also another key element that has been missing in all past and current efforts”.
Yesterday,the movement delivered two letters to both leaders respectively requesting for the meetings.
Waythamoorthy said the meetings are to confirm first, the demonstration of that political will and then to work out the details and modalities for the solution.
“We are approaching this initiative with an open mind and are willing to talk to both the leaders as they both share the leadership of the governments in the country.”
'We will let the people decide'
Waythamoorthy urged Najib and Anwar, who he calls “prime-minister-in-waiting”, to view this as an opportunity to demonstrate their seriousness and commitment to resolving the socio-economic problems of the marginalised Indian community.
“We have requested that both the leaders respond back within two weeks or by Sept 11 to our request for this meeting. It is also our intention to get the meetings going before the end of September 2012. We look forward to having these meetings.
“We will let the people decide on the respective attitudes shown by the leaders in their responses to our request. But we will go on, nevertheless, as we have 'miles to go before we sleep',” he added.
Waythamoorthy left the country soon after the Hindraf rally in November 2007 to take the movement’s campaign global. His passport was revoked on April 2008.
After nearly five years of self exile, he returned to the country on Aug 1 without a hitch.