Saturday, 20 September 2014
Mosul, the Islamic State "bans Christians from school"
Archbishop Nona tells AsiaNews, an entire "generation is in danger of not being educated". The schools turned into shelters, cannot accommodate lessons. The Church is racing against the…
Archbishop Nona tells AsiaNews, an entire "generation is in danger of not being educated". The schools turned into shelters, cannot accommodate lessons. The Church is racing against the clock to find housing, but only a fraction of the institutions will be able to resume activities. In the city and Nineveh plain population is increasingly hostile to the Islamist militias, 98% want "their expulsion."
Ankawa (AsiaNews) - For the first time in history, Iraqi Christians who always had a "high standard of education" in the region, are being deprived of the right to study and cannot attend schools. This represents a further threat to the survival of the minority, not only in Iraq but throughout the Middle East, because there is not the risk that an entire generation "will not be educated", which is a "very bad sign". The warning comes from Msgr. Shimoun Emil Nona, Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, in the north, the second most important city in the country and first city to fall into the hands of the militia of the Islamic State.
Interviewed by AsiaNews, the prelate confirms that "currently children from many of the refugee families" as well as "children who live in Christian areas" cannot start the school year. "There are about 700 schools scattered between Erbil, Ankawa and Zakkho - he explains - but they are hosting displaced people and are full. In other non-Christian areas the lessons have begun, but not here". Moreover in the areas occupied by the Islamic Caliphate the curriculum has been changed to promote Islam and the Koran.
Msgr. Nona was the first to raise the alarm of the danger posed by the advance of the Islamists after the conquest of Mosul, where about 500 thousand people - Muslims and Christians - fled in early June to avoid being forced to convert to Islam. It was also where the militants founded their caliphate and imposed sharia. In cities and in areas on the Nineveh plain that are under the control of the Islamic State schools have reopened. However, under the instruction of their leader the curriculum has changed to ban history, geography and literature; students must study Arabic and the Muslim religion and are forbidden to speak of the Republic of Iraq or Syria, only of the Caliphate.
An Mosul elementary school teacher of mathematics and Arabic states that "we are in 2014, but it seems have regressed 14 centuries." 95% of the 2,450 schools in the area - Mosul and Nineveh Plain - are in the hands of the Islamists, who have forbidden mixed classes and have closed the Faculty of Law, because "conventional law is no longer in force." Rigid rules, imposed by force, are increasingly arousing the impatience of the local population. If at first people saw them as liberators from a central government (under former Shiite Prime Minister al-Maliki) regarded as the oppressor, today 98% of the people - as reported by an academic in Mosul - "would like to see them gone as soon as possible" .
The archbishop of Mosul, who is also a refugee Ankawa, in Iraqi Kurdistan, cannot confirm this radical change of attitude towards the Islamic state and the distortion of the curriculum at the hands of the militia. He admits however, to "having heard similar rumors", and there is a good chance that "they are true." There are still some Christians in the city, but "very few" who live "isolated" and "in danger" because "anything could happen to them".
Msgr. Nona asks us to pray for a situation "which is growing more dramatic with every passing day" especially with the arrival of winter. This interruption in the schooling of young Christians is a serious problem, because it halts the development of an entire generation of Iraqi Christians, who in the past have always been distinguished for their cultural level and standard of schooling. "It is very negative" says the bishop, and "very dangerous".
In the history of community, education has always been an "important anchor for us," says the Archbishop of Mosul, and as a Church "we are trying to rent as many homes as possible" to free schools and allow the resumption of classes . However, the operation is "very slow, because it is not always possible to find homes or housing is unavailable." Concluding, the prelate says however that there are some small signs of hope, "we rented a building with 56 apartments - he says - that can accommodate all the families who, at this time, are housed in a school in Ankawa" . Only one out of 11, he adds, while the goal is "free up at least two or three more." (DS)
Labels:
Christianity,
ISIS
UK female jihadists run ISIS sex-slave brothels
Startling details have surfaced of British female jihadists forcing captured Iraqi women into sexual slavery at brothels run by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and…
Startling details have surfaced of British female jihadists forcing captured Iraqi women into sexual slavery at brothels run by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), British media reported Thursday.
The Brothels, operated by the female “police force” called the al-Khanssaa Brigade, have been set up for the use of ISIS militants, according to the Daily Mirror.
Thousands of Iraqi women have already been forced into sex slavery at the brothels , with as many as 3,000 women and girls been taken captive from the Yazidi tribe in Iraq over the course of the militants’ offensive across the region, according to the daily.
“These women are using barbaric interpretations of the Islamic faith to justify their actions,” the Mirror quoted a source as saying. “They believe the militants can use these women as they please as they are non-Muslims. It is the British women who have risen to the top of the Islamic State’s Sharia police, and now they are in charge of this operation.”
ISIS chiefs have reportedly given British women such prominent roles in the ultra-religious all female militia because they see them as the most committed of the foreign female fighters.
A key figure among the female police force is Aqsa Mahmood, 20, of Glasgow. At least three other British females have been identified as members of the group, the Mirror reported.
‘Al-Khanssaa is a Sharia law police brigade. This is ISIS‘ female law enforcement,” Melanie Smith, a research associate at King's College's International Centre for the Study of Radicalization, told The Sunday Telegraph. 'We think it’s a mixture of British and French women but its social media accounts are run by the British and they are written in English.”
The Daily Mail, meanwhile, reported that more and more young British women are leaving the United Kingdom to join militants, and many have formed intense friendships with ISIS fighters.
They include twins Salma and Zahra Halane, 16, from Manchester, and mother Khadijah Dare, 22, who is married to a Swedish militant.
"It is as bizarre as it is perverse," the Mirror quoted a source as saying.
Experts have said ISIS is targeting women for recruitment, and fighters are being urged to marry British and European women.
ISIS, have been on a rampage across Iraq, killing and enslaving members of the country’s ancient religious minorities, including Assyrian Christians and the Yazidis.
Last month two U.N. officials issued a joint statement on the "barbaric acts" of sexual violence committed by ISIS fighters.
"We condemn, in the strongest terms, the explicit targeting of women and children and the barbaric acts the 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' has perpetrated on minorities in areas under its control, and we remind all armed groups that acts of sexual violence are grave human rights violations that can be considered as war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Nickolay Mladenov, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general for Iraq, and Zainab Hawa Bangura, special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict.
The U.N. officials’ statement cited evidence of rape being used as weapons of war against women and teenage boys and girls belonging to the Yazidi, Christian, Turkomen and Shabak communities in Iraq.
Academic and Middle East expert Haleh Esfandiari has blogged for the Wall Street Journal that ISIS offers captured girls and women as a "reward" to its followers.
"ISIS has received considerable world attention for its savage beheadings, executions of captured soldiers and men in conquered towns and villages, violence against Christians and Shiites, and the destruction of non-Sunni shrines and places of worship," she said.
"But its barbarity against women has been treated as a side issue. Arab and Muslim governments, vocal on the threat ISIS poses to regional stability, have been virtually silent on ISIS’s systemic degradation, abuse, and humiliation of women.”
"To the men of ISIS, women are an inferior race, to be enjoyed for sex and be discarded, or to be sold off as slaves.”
Labels:
ISIS
IGP mocks Suaram’s call to repeal Dangerous Drugs Act 1985
The nation's top cop today said that drug traffickers will have a field day if the Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985 was repealed, as suggested by human rights…The nation's top cop today said that drug traffickers will have a field day if the Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985 was repealed, as suggested by human rights group Suaram.Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (pic), referring to calls by Suaram to abolish the Act, also said in a series of tweets that abolishing the Act would hamper police efforts to wipe out drug trafficking.
"SUARAM kata Akta Dadah Berbahaya perlu di mansuhkan," Khalid tweeted on his handle @KBAB51. (Suaram said the Dangerous Drugs Act should be repealed.)
"Wahhhh seronok lah pengedar2 dadah." (Drug traffickers will be very happy.)
"Usha @PDRMsia membanteras Dadah akan terbantut!" (Police efforts to stamp out drug trafficking will be hampered.)
"@PDRMsia percaya Rakyat M'sia mahu PDRM banteras Dadah habis2 an." (Police believe the rakyat want us to stamp out drug trafficking.)
"Kalau ADB di mansuhkan, PDRM nak guna apa?" (If the DDA is repealed, what are the police going to use?) Khalid tweeted.
Earlier today, Suaram demanded an end to the Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985.
The DDA 1985 allows for detention without trial of suspected drug traffickers and kingpins, similar to the Internal Security Act 1960 and Emergency Ordnance 1969.
Free Malaysia Today quoted Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng as saying that "a person could be arrested arbitrarily without warrant or reasonable cause".
"More importantly, those detained under this Act lose their right to a fair trial," Yap told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Yap said the DDA had been ineffective in reducing drug-related crimes in Malaysia, citing statistics from the National Drug Agency which showed crimes had steadily increased between 2008 and 2013.
He said that there were, in fact, other laws in the country that were more comprehensive, citing Section 117 of the Criminal Procedural Law as an example.
Yap said unlike Section 117, the DDA lacked transparency in police investigations and its allowance for a 60-day detention without trial was a cause for concern.
More worrying were the numerous allegations by detainees who claimed they were tortured while in custody to force a confession.
Given the many weaknesses of the DDA, Yap said Suaram was demanding “a fair trial for these detainees as it is a basic human right”.
Suaram also called for all current detainees of the DDA to be released and investigated using a fairer law that does not violate their basic rights. – September 19, 2014
Labels:
Drugs Act 1985
IGP dodges contempt with new stay order
It seems inspector-general of police Khalid Abu
Bakar has been provided a lifeline from possible contempt in the Ipoh
High Court inter-faith custodial dispute.
The reprieve came after the attorney-general…
The reprieve came after the attorney-general…
It seems inspector-general of police Khalid Abu
Bakar has been provided a lifeline from possible contempt in the Ipoh
High Court inter-faith custodial dispute.
The reprieve came after the attorney-general obtained an ex-parte stay of execution from the Court of Appeal on the order to compel the IGP to arrest K Pathmanathan @ Mohamad Ridhuan Abdullah within seven days from last Friday.
An ex-parte stay order is made by one party without the attendance of the other.
The stay has freed the IGP of possible contempt, since both parties will now be required to meet on Sept 25 for the court to decide whether the stay will be permanent.
The appellate court decision was made on Wednesday and a copy was served on Ipoh Barat MP and lawyer M Kulasegaran today.
IGP Khalid made an accompanying affidavit to the application.
The arrest order to be executed by the IGP was issued by the Ipoh High Court.
The Appeal Court decision was made by a single judge, namely Justice Aziah Ali, rather than the customary three-member panel.
This is similar to the Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin vs Zambry Abdul Kadir case in which a stay of execution of the Kuala Lumpur High Court order was granted by a single Court of Appeal judge who heard the matter.
Kulasegaran
said the application was unnecessary and unfair because the papers
could have been served to him in person rather than ex-parte, and argued
for a three-member appeal panel.
The Ipoh High Court had on Friday ordered the police and IGP to arrest Pathmanathan @ Ridhuan (left) and for his daughter Prasana Diksa returned to her mother M Indira Gandhi within seven days.
On that same day, the senior federal counsel applied for a stay of the order. only to be rejected by Justice Lee Swee Seng.
Yesterday it was reported that the AG's Chambers had subsequently filed a notice of appeal over Friday's application.
Kula: We will challenge
Kulasegaran slammed the government's move of securing the application without having their voice heard and questioned the government's motives.
Indira (right in photo), he added, is distraught and upset on being informed of the ex-parte order and they intend to challenge it.
Kulasegaran said the refusal by the IGP to arrest Pathmanathan is only giving aid to his continuing act of contempt.
“The administration of justice is being brought into disrepute. I have promised her our team of lawyers will immediately mount a challenge to set aside the ex-parte order.
“It is not going to be easy. To challenge the country’s top policeman, the IGP, and the government’s number one lawyer, the AG, is going to be an uphill task.
"But persevere we will for we have faith that justice in accordance with the law and as administered by our judges will prevail,” he said in a statement.
Stay application 'baseless'
Kulasegaran argued that there was no need for the government to opt for the ex-parte application.
"Although the AG is entitled to make such an application, there is utterly no urgency nor any prejudice to the IGP.
“The
IGP merely had to arrest Indira Gandhi’s ex-husband and commit him to
prison. Something which he, as a policeman, is duty bound to do," he
argued.
“Indira Gandhi has her solicitors, Messrs Kula & Associates, and it would have only been fair for the AG to serve all papers on us and to have the matter heard before a panel of three judges in open court.”
The Ipoh Barat MP said it commonly accepted practice in law that both parties in the case ought to be heard.
“Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. The AG’s decision to move the court and obtain an ex-parte order is only going delay matters, while causing serious prejudice to the welfare of Prasana Diksa and Indira Gandhi and create a great disservice to the administration of justice.
“Had the court heard us, it might have come to the conclusion that the application was baseless.
"The AG must convince Malaysians that ex-parte applications such as these are being made for the interest of the public and not for any ulterior motive,” Kulasegaran said.
The reprieve came after the attorney-general obtained an ex-parte stay of execution from the Court of Appeal on the order to compel the IGP to arrest K Pathmanathan @ Mohamad Ridhuan Abdullah within seven days from last Friday.
An ex-parte stay order is made by one party without the attendance of the other.The stay has freed the IGP of possible contempt, since both parties will now be required to meet on Sept 25 for the court to decide whether the stay will be permanent.
The appellate court decision was made on Wednesday and a copy was served on Ipoh Barat MP and lawyer M Kulasegaran today.
IGP Khalid made an accompanying affidavit to the application.
The arrest order to be executed by the IGP was issued by the Ipoh High Court.
The Appeal Court decision was made by a single judge, namely Justice Aziah Ali, rather than the customary three-member panel.
This is similar to the Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin vs Zambry Abdul Kadir case in which a stay of execution of the Kuala Lumpur High Court order was granted by a single Court of Appeal judge who heard the matter.
Kulasegaran
said the application was unnecessary and unfair because the papers
could have been served to him in person rather than ex-parte, and argued
for a three-member appeal panel.The Ipoh High Court had on Friday ordered the police and IGP to arrest Pathmanathan @ Ridhuan (left) and for his daughter Prasana Diksa returned to her mother M Indira Gandhi within seven days.
On that same day, the senior federal counsel applied for a stay of the order. only to be rejected by Justice Lee Swee Seng.
Yesterday it was reported that the AG's Chambers had subsequently filed a notice of appeal over Friday's application.
Kula: We will challenge
Kulasegaran slammed the government's move of securing the application without having their voice heard and questioned the government's motives.
Indira (right in photo), he added, is distraught and upset on being informed of the ex-parte order and they intend to challenge it.Kulasegaran said the refusal by the IGP to arrest Pathmanathan is only giving aid to his continuing act of contempt.
“The administration of justice is being brought into disrepute. I have promised her our team of lawyers will immediately mount a challenge to set aside the ex-parte order.
“It is not going to be easy. To challenge the country’s top policeman, the IGP, and the government’s number one lawyer, the AG, is going to be an uphill task.
"But persevere we will for we have faith that justice in accordance with the law and as administered by our judges will prevail,” he said in a statement.
Stay application 'baseless'
Kulasegaran argued that there was no need for the government to opt for the ex-parte application.
"Although the AG is entitled to make such an application, there is utterly no urgency nor any prejudice to the IGP.
“The
IGP merely had to arrest Indira Gandhi’s ex-husband and commit him to
prison. Something which he, as a policeman, is duty bound to do," he
argued.“Indira Gandhi has her solicitors, Messrs Kula & Associates, and it would have only been fair for the AG to serve all papers on us and to have the matter heard before a panel of three judges in open court.”
The Ipoh Barat MP said it commonly accepted practice in law that both parties in the case ought to be heard.
“Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. The AG’s decision to move the court and obtain an ex-parte order is only going delay matters, while causing serious prejudice to the welfare of Prasana Diksa and Indira Gandhi and create a great disservice to the administration of justice.
“Had the court heard us, it might have come to the conclusion that the application was baseless.
"The AG must convince Malaysians that ex-parte applications such as these are being made for the interest of the public and not for any ulterior motive,” Kulasegaran said.
Labels:
conversion,
Islam Discrimination
Selangor MB will not be a woman, says report
Even though PKR has been adamant with its choice, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah, rumours have been rife that the new chief executive post could go to PKR deputy president Azmin Ali or PAS Cempaka assemblyman Iskandar Abdul Samad.
“Choosing a mentri besar from PAS may cause uneasiness. Therefore, Azmin is the perfect compromise,” the source told NST.
Both however told NST that they were not informed of the palace’s decision.
Tuesday could mark the final chapter in the protracted mentri besar saga that threw Selangor into a leadership crisis and caused fissures that are now threatening to rend the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact apart.
The intrigue has pit Pakatan Rakyat allies against each other over their disagreements — first over the removal of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim as well as over whom his replacement should be.
The senior PAS leadership has consistently stood apart from its PR allies in PKR’s intricate bid to replace Khalid with Dr Wan Azizah, leading to growing questions over its commitment to the pact and open calls for its exit.
The situation grew more intractable after PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang unilaterally named three nominees for the post in accordance with the Sultan of Selangor’s request; PKR and DAP were adamant in naming only Dr Wan Azizah.
It is unclear who were the three nominees submitted by PAS.
The Sultan said, however, that he will not limit his selection to the candidates nominated by the three parties, after PKR and DAP refused his request for at least three nominees for his consideration.
Labels:
Selangor
Siswa dibelasah di penjara
Ali turut menjelaskan bahawa beliau telah diherdik setiap hari oleh pegawai yang tidak mempunyai sebarang pangkat dan pegawai itu telah memaksa tahanan lain untuk memukulnya.
PETALING JAYA: Ahli keluarga aktivis…
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PETALING JAYA: Ahli keluarga aktivis…
Ali turut menjelaskan bahawa beliau telah diherdik setiap hari oleh pegawai yang tidak mempunyai sebarang pangkat dan pegawai itu telah memaksa tahanan lain untuk memukulnya.
PETALING JAYA: Ahli keluarga aktivis Ali Abd Jalil, Asiah Abd Jalil memaklumkan bahawa sewaktu lawatannya ke Penjara Sungai Buloh, Ali memaklumkan bahawa beliau telah dipukul oleh salah seorang anggota polis yang bernama ASP Zamri.
Bukan itu sahaja, Ali turut menjelaskan bahawa beliau telah diherdik setiap hari oleh pegawai yang tidak mempunyai sebarang pangkat dan pegawai itu telah memaksa tahanan lain untuk memukul Ali.
Kenyataan itu telah dikeluarkan oleh ahli keluarga Ali di dalam Facebooknya. Status yang dikeluarkan tersebut menyatakan “Lawatan peguam ke Penjara Sungai Buloh. Kali pertama kami dapat access kepada Ali Abd Jalil setelah DUA BELAS hari ditahan.”
“Ali memaklumkan, BELIAU DIPUKUL oleh ASP ZAMRI dan diherdik setiap hari oleh pegawai tidak berpangkat bernama NAZA. NAZA juga mengugut untuk memaksa tahanan lain memukul Ali. Kami tidak akan berdiam diri!” tulis Asiah di dalam Facebook.
Sebelum ini, Ali yang baru dilepaskan dengan ikat jamin kerana dituduh menghasut, ditahan semula oleh polis di bawah Akta Hasutan kerana didakwa menghina Sultan Selangor.
Ali ditahan berikutan tulisan di laman Facebooknya yang didakwa menghina Sultan Selangor berikutan kemelut di negeri itu.
Siswa institut pengajian tinggi swasta itu didakwa melakukan kesalahan menerbitkan penerbitan yang menghasut dibawah Seksyen 4(1)(c) Akta Hasutan 1948.
Ia merupakan kali kedua Ali didakwa mengikut Akta Hasutan 1948 yang sebelum ini dikenakan terhadap ahli politik Pakatan Rakyat (PR), ahli akademik dan wartawan.
Kali pertama, Ali mengaku tidak bersalah di Mahkamah Sesyen Selayang atas tuduhan menghasut melalui laman Facebook pada Januari tahun ini.
Hakim Ahmad Fairuz Mohd Fuzi menetapkan 10 Oktober ini untuk tarikh bicara dan Ali dibebaskan dengan ikat jamin RM5,000 dengan seorang penjamin.
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PETALING JAYA: Ahli keluarga aktivis Ali Abd Jalil, Asiah Abd Jalil memaklumkan bahawa sewaktu lawatannya ke Penjara Sungai Buloh, Ali memaklumkan bahawa beliau telah dipukul oleh salah seorang anggota polis yang bernama ASP Zamri.
Bukan itu sahaja, Ali turut menjelaskan bahawa beliau telah diherdik setiap hari oleh pegawai yang tidak mempunyai sebarang pangkat dan pegawai itu telah memaksa tahanan lain untuk memukul Ali.
Kenyataan itu telah dikeluarkan oleh ahli keluarga Ali di dalam Facebooknya. Status yang dikeluarkan tersebut menyatakan “Lawatan peguam ke Penjara Sungai Buloh. Kali pertama kami dapat access kepada Ali Abd Jalil setelah DUA BELAS hari ditahan.”
“Ali memaklumkan, BELIAU DIPUKUL oleh ASP ZAMRI dan diherdik setiap hari oleh pegawai tidak berpangkat bernama NAZA. NAZA juga mengugut untuk memaksa tahanan lain memukul Ali. Kami tidak akan berdiam diri!” tulis Asiah di dalam Facebook.
Sebelum ini, Ali yang baru dilepaskan dengan ikat jamin kerana dituduh menghasut, ditahan semula oleh polis di bawah Akta Hasutan kerana didakwa menghina Sultan Selangor.
Ali ditahan berikutan tulisan di laman Facebooknya yang didakwa menghina Sultan Selangor berikutan kemelut di negeri itu.
Siswa institut pengajian tinggi swasta itu didakwa melakukan kesalahan menerbitkan penerbitan yang menghasut dibawah Seksyen 4(1)(c) Akta Hasutan 1948.
Ia merupakan kali kedua Ali didakwa mengikut Akta Hasutan 1948 yang sebelum ini dikenakan terhadap ahli politik Pakatan Rakyat (PR), ahli akademik dan wartawan.
Kali pertama, Ali mengaku tidak bersalah di Mahkamah Sesyen Selayang atas tuduhan menghasut melalui laman Facebook pada Januari tahun ini.
Hakim Ahmad Fairuz Mohd Fuzi menetapkan 10 Oktober ini untuk tarikh bicara dan Ali dibebaskan dengan ikat jamin RM5,000 dengan seorang penjamin.
Labels:
Police Brutality
PKR seeks royal audience
The party insists that Wan Azizah's candidacy for the Menteri Besar post has the support of the majority of state assembly members.
PETALING JAYA: PKR, reacting to news that the…
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The party insists that Wan Azizah's candidacy for the Menteri Besar post has the support of the majority of state assembly members.
PETALING JAYA: PKR, reacting to news that the new Selangor Menteri Besar will be sworn in on Tuesday, is seeking an audience with the Sultan of Selangor.
In a brief statement released late today, PKR Secretary-General Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the party’s Political Bureau met today over “new developments pertaining to the appointment of a new Menteri Besar for Selangor.”
He said the party’s stand was that the support of the majority of state assembly members for the candidacy of Wan Azizah Ismail had not changed.
PKR was therefore seeking an audience with the Sultan to “get his advice” on the matter, he added.
The statement stressed the party’s loyalty to the Sultan as well as to the Constitution of the State of Selangor.
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In a brief statement released late today, PKR Secretary-General Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the party’s Political Bureau met today over “new developments pertaining to the appointment of a new Menteri Besar for Selangor.”
He said the party’s stand was that the support of the majority of state assembly members for the candidacy of Wan Azizah Ismail had not changed.
PKR was therefore seeking an audience with the Sultan to “get his advice” on the matter, he added.
The statement stressed the party’s loyalty to the Sultan as well as to the Constitution of the State of Selangor.
Young lawyers to drive Bar approval for sedition law protest
The Malaysian Insider
BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
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BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Seven
years after marching to save the judiciary, the Malaysian Bar is
expected to debate and approve today a peaceful march…
The Malaysian Insider
BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
▲
BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Seven
years after marching to save the judiciary, the Malaysian Bar is
expected to debate and approve today a peaceful march against the
Sedition Act 1948 that has been used extensively this year.
Senior
lawyers said this was significant, although not historical, as the
Malaysian Bar had held such extraordinary general meetings (EGM) that
touched on issues which breached on the basic rights of citizens.
They
said the debate on the sedition law was timely following an
unprecedented slew of charges slapped against opposition elected
representatives, lawyers and activists.
Datuk
Jagjit Singh said young lawyers, who make up 60% of the 15,500 members,
had shown a lot of enthusiasm about the issues surrounding the 1948 law
which was enacted during the colonial period.
"They
are idealistic and full of energy. I will be there because I too feel
strongly about the abuse of the sedition law," Jagjit, who has been a
member of the Bar since 1968, said.
The
former Bar council member remembered an EGM held in the early '70s to
protest against the annual renewal of licence for newspapers under the
former Printing Ordinance of 1948.
"That requirement basically curtailed our freedom of expression and free flow of information," he said.
After the EGM, a group of 42 lawyers marched to Parliament but police stopped them.
"We were charged with failure to disperse but luckily we were bound over for one year for good behaviour," he said.
Jagjit
said it was the duty of lawyers under the Legal Profession Act to
uphold the cause of justice without regard to the Bar’s own interest or
that of its members.
"Our criticism at the EGM should be viewed as constructive as most of us do not have political interest," he said.
Datuk
Seri Gopal Sri Ram recollected an EGM held in 1975 to discuss the now
repealed Internal Security Act which was used indiscriminately. A
lawyer, the late Abdul Razak Ahmad, had been arrested in the course of
carrying out his duty.
He
said the Bar president at that time was the law
minister-cum-Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Yusof, who came under
fire from members.
"The
resolution was passed to condemn the detention of Razak who was later
released," said Sri Ram who sat on the bench from 1994 to 2010.
Sri
Ram, who is one of the 121 lawyers who supported the motion for the
peaceful walk, said there was nothing surprising about today’s EGM as
the complaint was that the sedition law was used indiscriminately.
He said in the past, the Bar had acted fearlessly and independently on public interest issues.
"This
meeting to debate the Sedition Act is important as it infringes on the
freedom of speech which is one of the cornerstones of our Federal
Constitution," he said.
"My concern is that the Bar Council should not become a political organ," said Sri Ram.
Eric
Paulsen said the recent prosecutions and investigations under the
sedition law was akin to the Ops Lalang as even lawyers who gave their
legal opinions were not spared.
(On
October 27, 1987, police detained more than 100 politicians and
activists under the ISA in a police operation, codenamed Ops Lalang, and
some were held without trial for two years.)
"To
me this is something unprecedented and I’m glad the Bar has risen to
the occasion. I believe members will not fail the public," he said.
Paulsen,
who is also Lawyers for Liberty executive director, said the peaceful
walk, if approved, would be the members’ strongest protest against the
law.
The
last time the Malaysian Bar held an EGM was on May 11, 2012 where
members approved a resolution condemning the police for using
“excessive” and “indiscriminate” force to disperse Bersih 3.0 protesters
on April 28.
The
resolution, passed by way of voting, also demanded that the home
minister and Inspector-General of Police apologised to the public and
the media over police conduct during the rally.
The
Bar, under the leadership of Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, organised the
“March for Justice” in Putrajaya in 2007, calling for judicial reform
and the investigation of a videotape allegedly showing lawyer, Datuk V.
K. Lingam, fixing judicial appointments and judges’ case assignments.
The actions and intense lobbying led to the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry which called for corrective actions.
Last
month, Seri Delima assembyman R.S.N. Rayer, also a lawyer, was slapped
with two separate sedition charges over his "celaka celaka Umno" (damn
damn Umno) remark.
Others
who have also been charged with sedition included lawyer and Padang
Serai MP N. Surendran of PKR, and Shah Alam MP and PAS central committee
member Khalid Samad.
On
September 2, Universiti Malaya law professor Dr Azmi Sharom was charged
with sedition based on statements in an article over his comments about
the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis which was published in a news
portal on August 14.
Sabah
politician David Orok was prosecuted under the same law on September 3
for allegedly insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad in a Facebook posting
two months ago.
Freelance
public speaker and preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussein pleaded not guilty on
Wednesday for making a seditious statement which insulted Sultan
Sharafuddin Idris Shah of Selangor in a Facebook posting in November
last year.
Human rights lawyer Edmund Bon is also being investigated for alleged seditious remarks made in an article in January.
The EGM is scheduled for 3pm at Dewan San Choon, Wisma MCA, in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. – September 19, 2014.
Labels:
BAR council,
Seditious
PAS Ulama Told To Advise Members Against Slandering BN
Tan Sri Muhyiddin YassinTUMPAT, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Ulama or religious scholars in PAS have been told to advise their party members to cease slandering the government and the…
Tan Sri Muhyiddin YassinTUMPAT, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Ulama or religious scholars in PAS have been told to advise their party members to cease slandering the government and the Barisan Nasional (BN) which have proven themselves by developing the nation according to the Islamic model.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said PAS did not stop slandering the government which has done much for the people when PAS itself has not done anything especially for Kelantan residents.
"I am asking PAS to stop the defamation against the government and BN for the sake of the people. Enough is enough with the slander.
"I am telling religious scholars in PAS to advise party members to stop defaming BN and the government," he said when giving a talk at the Pengkalan Kubor BN community Service Centre here Friday night.
Also present was BN Pengkalan Kubor by-election machinery director Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
Muhyiddin, who is BN deputy chairman, said among the biggest slander by PAS was that the federal government did not pay petroleum royalty amounting to RM12 billion to Kelantan.
"This defamation is one big lie. Even though this issue should not be raised as the matter is still with the court but we have to explain as the royalty issue was being used by PAS in its campaign and talks," he said.
Muhyiddin said BN was actually not worried with the issue played by PAS especially in this by-election as the issue used by PAS is not true.
He said PAS had to resort to slandering about royalty solely to influence voters to garner votes in the by-election.
"Some may believe what PAS said and as such we are forced to defend ourselves to explain the truth," he said.
He said PAS needed to look at the success of the country especially in Islamic banking which received global recognition.
"Another example is how Tabung Haji manages pilgrimage to Makkah which was participated by PAS members themselves to fulfil their pilgrimage," he said.
According to him, the ability of the country to achieve 6.4 per cent growth was far better than many countries, he said.
Muhyiddin called on Pengkalan Kubor voters to think wisely on who actually developed the constituency all this while if it is not the federal government.
"Look at PAS which is good in making promises such as building highways and others and they remain good at such empty promises.
"We at the federal government would not dare to make such promises if there were no funds but the PAS government can make empty promises with impunity," he said.
The by-election is a three-cornerned fight between Mat Razi Mat Ail of BN, Wan Rosdi Wan Ibrahim of PAS and independent candidate Izat Bukhari Ismail Bukhari.
It is being held following the death of incumbent Datuk Noor Zahidi Omar of BN on Aug 20.
In the 13th general election, Noor Zahidi defeated PKR candidate Saharun Ibrahim and Izat Bukhary (Independent) with a 1,736 vote majority.
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