Pakatan to oppose preventive detention powers

Pakatan Rakyat will oppose any amendment to the Crime Prevention Act 1959 that is brought before Parliament, said PKR vice-president N Surendran.

He told a press conference at the Parliament lobby this morning that the federal opposition coalition will not support any amendment to provide the police with preventive detention powers.
“This (move) shows that the without oppressive laws, the government is unable to curb crime rates,” he said.

The Act itself had remained unused for years because the government had relied on the Emergency Ordinance for preventive detention until it was abolished in December 2011.

But an increase in the crime rate has prompted the government to moot the use of preventive detention again.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in Parliament earlier today that the rising crime rate can be arrested when the CPA is amended.
“With this amendment, we can solve the problem of crime,” Zahid told Parliament.

Zahid also confirmed that the amendment to CPA will include extending its scope to Sabah and Sarawak.

As the act was legislated in 1959, it was only formed for peninsula Malaysia and did not extend to Sabah and Sarawak.

The CPA allows for a maximum amount of 70 days detention, separated into three different stages, for a detainee before he or she faces trial.

Brothers arrested under EO despite being acquitted

Even though the EO will cease to exist in six months' time, police are still using it to detain two brothers.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Emergency Ordinance (EO) will be repealed in six months but police are still bent on using it as they have detained two brothers without trial.

The Alternative Action Team (AAT) submitted a memorandum to Suhakam, on behalf of a family from Ipoh claiming that the police had abused their powers by wrongfully detaining two of their family members under the EO.

AAT president B Kalaivanar said the brothers – S Murugan, 31, and S Ramakrishnan, 28 – were detained at their home in Batu Gajah in January over a murder case.

When taken to court, the siblings, who do odd jobs for a living, were acquitted of the charges.
“However, the police rearrested the duo on the spot for another murder case,” said Kalaivanar.

Subsequently, the duo were detained under the EO for 60 days at the Bagan Serai police station before being transferred to the Machang detention centre in March.

Criticising the police, Kalaivanar alleged that the police threw various accusations at the brothers just to justify their abuse of power in detaining them.

“They were accused of committing a murder in Batu Gajah and being involved in a jewellery shop heist. They were even accused of stealing a cow,” he said.

Main breadwinners

Kalaivanar urged the police to charge the duo in court so that Ramakrishnan and Murugan can get a trial to prove their innocence.

“While we have Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak revoking archaic laws such as the EO, the police seem to be bent on using it,” said Kalaivanar.

On the jewellery store robbery claims, Kalaivanar said that it was not necessary for the police to use the EO to arrest the duo as CCTV recording at the shop could lead them to the real culprit.

Suhakam commissioner Muhammad Shaani Abdullah promised to look into the matter, but reminded the family that the EO would only cease to exist in six months’ time.

“However, Suhakam is always against detention without trial. Everyone deserves a fair trial and we will check with the Home Ministry on this case,” he said.

Meanwhile, the detainees’ brother, S Prakash, 29, believed that his brothers are innocent and hoped the authorities would release them soon.

“It’s very hard for us now as they were our main breadwinners. Our father is also too old to go through all this,” said Prakash.

36 EO detainees to be released

This release is a continuing process, says Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

KUALA LUMPUR: About 36 people detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) will be released soon, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

He said the decision to release them demonstrated Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s seriousness in carrying out phase two of the government’s Political Transformation Programme by revoking three emergency proclamations.

“The police and home ministry will release not fewer than 36 people who were detained under the EO.

“This is a continuing process although it basically takes six months,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby, here.

At the Dewan Rakyat sitting today, Najib tabled a motion to revoke three emergency proclamations regarded as still being effective until today.

Hishammuddin said the task of the ministry and police was to ensure that national interest and public security were safeguarded, with people’s fundamental rights taken into consideration.

“I believe the work of the ministry and police through the Political Transformation Programme will be able to ensure that peace and public security will not be threatened,” he said.

The minister said in the transformation context, all peaceful assemblies should take into consideration the views of the relevant authorities so as not to jeopardise harmony, and national and public security.

“I believe the people are able to gauge the prime minister’s seriousness in carrying out transformation,” he added.

On the detention of 14 suspected militants under the Internal Security Act (ISA), by the authorities in Tawau, Sabah, he said the investigation was still on-going.

PM Tables Motion To Revoke Three Emergency Proclamations

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Thursday tabled a motion in the Dewan Rakyat to revoke three emergency proclamations.

The proclamations, issued by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, are the Emergency Proclamation 1966, Emergency Proclamation 1969 and Emergency Proclamation 1977.

The 1969 emergency proclamation was issued on May 15, 1969, following racial riots two days earlier.

The 1966 and 1977 emergency proclamations, issued on Sept 14, 1966, in Sarawak and Nov 8, 1977, in Kelantan, respectively, were aimed at resolving political disputes in the two states.

Najib, in tabling the motion, said the move to annul the emergency proclamations was made because the conditions which threatened security and public order then no longer existed.

PM to propose Motion to end all Emergencies

A Member of Parliament has just received a Notice that the PM will be proposing a Motion to end all Emergencies. 
 
“That means all the Emergency Ordinances will lapse after six months,” said Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, the MP for Sungai Siput.

The motion would very likely be coming up after the parliamentary session on the Budget, said Jeyakumar when contacted in Parliament.

That’s the good news.

But if Najib is serious about ushering in democracy, then he must revamp the so-called ‘Peaceful Assembly Bill’ to make it democratic and uphold the right to freedom of assembly.

He must also abolish all detention without trial laws and not resurrect them under new laws with more ‘politically correct’ sounding names. He must uphold the basic right to an open trial as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

If Najib doesn’t do this, all his high-falutin’ talk of ushering greater democracy is just a sham.

‘Free EO detainees on Deepavali’

The Human Rights Party wants all ISA and Emergency Ordinance detainees released so that they can celebrate Deepavali.

PETALING JAYA: Hundreds of people still detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) and the Internal Security Act (ISA) should be released this Deepavali, said the Human Rights Party (HRP).

HRP pro-tem secretary P Uthayakumar said that the federal government needed to free these detainees. The party claimed that 80% of those held under the EO were poor Indians.

“We hereby call upon Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Home Minister (Hishammuddin Hussein) on Deepavali – Nov 26- to release all the hundreds of EO detainees…at the Simpang Renggam and Machang, Kelantan prisons and also all the ISA detainees from Kamunting,” he said in a press statement.

“We symphatise with the mothers, wives, children, families and their loved ones who suffer the most from these arbitrary EO and ISA detentions.”

Uthayakumar added that these detainees should have been given due process of the law, as well as full legal aid.

He also claimed that the police was abusing its power through the use of the EO.

“The Royal Malaysian Police Force must really buck up and prove efficiency with their RM232.8 billion allocation in the 2012 Budget,” he said.

'Replace OSA with new law'

The New Straits Times
by Lydia Gomez

KUALA LUMPUR: The Official Secrets Act (OSA) should be reviewed and replaced by a more balanced law to protect government secrets and the people's right to information.

National Union of Journalists general secretary V. Anbalagan said the union was firm in its view that the mandatory jail term in the act should be replaced with only a fine.

He said the OSA was an obsolete law that prevented journalists from performing their duties on matters of public interest.

"This act carries a jail term and journalists are supposed to report on matters of public interest. 

"The definition of an official secret is also vague and subjective." 

Anbalagan said certain classified information about the country and its leaders was already exposed through whistleblower sites like WikiLeaks.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recently announced that the Internal Security Act would be abolished and two new laws would be introduced to safeguard peace and order. 

He also said the government would repeal the Banishment Act 1959, while a comprehensive study would be carried out on the Restricted Residence Act 1993 and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 where annual renewals would be done away with, and replaced with the issuance of licence until it was revoked.

Former New Straits Times journalist Sabry Sharif, the first local journalist to be convicted under the OSA in 1985 for a news report on alleged irregularities in a defence contract awarded by the Royal Malaysian Air Force, said the use of the OSA would only victimise journalists.

Sabry, 53, who had served the NST between 1981 and 1998, said the law did not recognise the need for journalists to seek the truth.

"I think all journalists should ask for the OSA to be reviewed if the government wants to curb abuse and if they are advocating transparency in government.

"The review of laws should be done in a holistic manner.

"I think editors and journalists should be allowed to do their jobs without fear," he said.

Centre for Independent Journalism programme officer Chuah Siew Eng said the OSA prevented journalists from fulfilling three important journalistic principles: their obligation to tell the truth, their loyalty to citizens in matters of public interest and their role as an independent monitor of the ruling power.

"The wide powers given to the executive in classifying any information as secret, even beyond the reach of judicial scrutiny, makes the law open to abuse. 

"It has no place in the best democracy that the prime minister envisions for Malaysia.

"It should instead be replaced by another law to allow the right to information, which would balance the need to protect government secrets and the people's right to information.

"And by encouraging a culture of transparency and openness in public bodies, it will serve as a first check against corruption and abuse of power," she said.

Bar may assist EO youths

The Star (Used by permission)
by SHAILA KOSHY

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar is looking into providing legal representation for the 30 youths held under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 (EO) in Kelantan.

Its president Lim Chee Wee said the Bar had not known “about this unfortunate state of affairs”.

He said this when asked what the Bar was going to do for the 30 detainees who were in various stages of their detention but had yet to meet a lawyer in that time.

On Sept 8, The Star reported Suhakam commissioner Muham­mad Sha’ani Abdullah as saying they had found 30 persons aged between 16 and 21 detained for various offences at the Reha­bilitation Centre in Machang when they visited on April 13.

Muhammad Sha’ani had decried the use of preventive detention on children – defined under the Child Act as those under 18 years and under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as those up to the age of 18.

Asked what was the point in offering pro bono services if young detainees did not even know their rights or where to go, Lim said this case demonstrated the necessity on the part of the authorities to seriously consider implementing a policy of informing the Bar.

“If they could do that, the Bar could volunteer its services to these detainees, especially the teenagers, in habeas corpus applications.”

Lim said the Bar was helping to raise public awareness by promoting its legal aid services via the various media.

“This serves to remind us of how much more the Government must do to prevent abuse and contravention of its international obligations under the CRC.”

According to Article 37, he said, no child shall be subjected to torture, degrading treatment or punishment, capital punishment or life imprisonment without possibility of release or deprived of life or liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.

Noting that the detention of a child must be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time, Lim said the CRC added that any child so deprived has the right to prompt access to legal assistance and the right to challenge the legality of his detention.

Not right to detain teens under EO, says Suhakam

The Star
By SHAILA KOSHY

KUALA LUMPUR: The young, especially those who are in their teens, should be put on trial if they have committed a crime and not be detained under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance (EO).

Suhakam commissioner Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah said there were 30 youths, aged between 16 and 21, detained for various offences at the Rehabilitation Centre in Machang, Kelantan, when the commission visited on April 13.

He said the use of preventive detention on children contravened the Child Act, which defines children as those under 18, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines them as persons up to the age of 18.

“The EO should not be used on children. They must be charged in court or they must be released,” said Sha'ani, who reiterated Suhakam's stand that detention without trial was a violation of human rights.

Of the 30, he said, five were suspected of stealing motorcycles, three of breaking into a house/car, one of buying a stolen motorcycle, one of causing a death in a fight, and 20 of being involved in gang fights, robbery or armed/gang robbery.

He wrote to the Home Ministry, Inspector-General of Police, Welfare Department, Prison Commissioner-General and Attorney-General's Chambers about their findings but had yet to get a reply.

Asked whether the detainees had expressed any hope to the Suhakam commissioners and officers who interviewed them, he said 24 were keen on continuing their schooling either there or after their release, taking the PMR or SPM, or picking up some vocational/skills training.

“A few complained that there was limited reading materials,” he said.

Asked whether any had made representations to the Advisory Board for a review, Sha'ani replied: “None of the 30 we interviewed had legal representation at any stage.”

“What's the point in having the right to be told of the accusation against you, possibility of release through a habeas corpus petition or the right to make a representation if you don't know about them, the authorities don't tell you and you have no lawyer to advise you?”

Before 2005, several cases collapsed after trial judges threw out caution statements on grounds police may have coerced the confessions.

Sha'ani reckons the 2007 amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code abolishing cautioned statements could be why many suspects of motorcycle theft end up as EO detainees.

“The police can't rely on a confession any more.

“By using the EO, they circumvent the A-G's Chambers and the court,” he added.

In March, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which had been invited here last year by the Government, said the same in its report to the UN.

Ex-EO detainee: My 34 days of solitude

PSM's Choo Chon Kai shares his thoughts and feelings when he was detained under the Emergency Ordinance and placed under solitary confinement.

EXCLUSIVE - FMT

PETALING JAYA: He was kept in solitary confinement for 34 days, every detail of his life was brushed with a finetooth comb and he had to endure hours of daily interrogation.

But Emergency Ordinance (EO) detainee Choo Chon Kai has not been cowed by his ordeal. Instead, it has strengthened his resolve to be a more dedicated social activist.

The forced isolation has also brought out the humourous side of the 33-year-old Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) central committee member.

“They were asking me so many details of my life, perhaps they want to help me write my autobiography,” he said.

Choo said he used his days and hours of solitude as a retreat and to reflect on life. He even said that he looked forward to meet his Special Branch interrogators.

“There were times, at night, when the loneliness was unbearable because there’s not a single person to talk to. When I meet my interrogators in the morning, I was then able to assure myself of reality, that I’m still alive and conscious and not crazy,” he said.

Choo was among the six PSM members who were re-arrested and detained under the Emergency Ordinance 1969 without trial when their 24 comrades were released on July 2.

All 30 of them were first arrested in Penang on June 25 on suspicion of “waging war against the King”. The police had justified the EO detention by saying the six were involved in “foreign elements” and “had subversive tendencies”.

The six EO detainees were released last Friday after languishing in solitary confinement for 34 days – six days in police remand when first arrested, followed by 28 days under the EO.
“They gave me everything, except my freedom,” said Choo when asked to summarise his experience. He said the cops were actually quite soft in their approach, adding that the police on the street should be more polite like that.
War against the King?
Initially he was worried when accused of “waging war against the King”.
“I was shocked when told of the first charge under Section 122. Then when they used the Emergency Ordinance, I told myself ‘Okay, so they’re finally using the EO now’.
“Then after thinking to myself about how they don’t have anything against us, I relaxed and kept calm all the time, I didn’t fight back. Just cooperate, I thought,” he said.
Choo said he mentally prepared himself for the worst case scenario: two years in Kamunting; so he was pleasantly surprised when he was released last week.
Choo was first held in Penang in a small confined cell which he described as “very warm” and said the rooms during EO detention were actually slightly better.
He said during the detention in Penang, he was questioned by three or four officers from the special branch division as well as the criminal investigation department.
“They kept asking about Bersih: are we going, how are we campaigning, what was our plan, and why were there communism t-shirts. But we were not really the Bersih organisers, they got the wrong people,” he said.
Choo said he had nothing to hide and even told the police that he fully supported Bersih and would be there if he wasn’t detained.
“They just kept saying ‘Bersih is a threat to public order we cannot let people get in’,” he said.
Choo said there was drama when they were released and re-arrested on July 2 by plainclothes policemen but all he was worried about was the Bersih rally.
“At that time, when they used the EO, I worried it was going to be a major crackdown on Bersih rally supporters and leaders. I was worried that it (Bersih rally) won’t happen. But before I was re-arrested, I managed to tell my friends who saw me that they have to be there,” he said.
Choo said that he believed the police were simply using all sorts of “scare tactics” but these tactics didn’t work on the PSM EO6, as they are now known.
“We are not wrong. If you say that we are against BN government means we’re against the King…then that’s an insult against the King,” he said.
Choo, who only got to meet his detained PSM colleagues when they changed clothes or were brought out blindfolded, said the EO detention was much better than the police detention in Penang as they had soap and toothbrushes and two sets of lock-up clothes
“During the first detention, I didn’t brush my teeth for a week!” he said.
Choo said a normal lunch consisted of rice with fried fish, curry chicken and vegetables. On the types of questions they asked , Choo said it covered almost every minute detail of his life.
“At first it was very tense questioning. There was a team of interrogators, four of them, and they asked me about my involvement in my university days, my involvement in Suaram and PSM ideologies. At that point, they asked very little about Bersih,” said Choo.
Choo, who was born and raised in Penang, is a Universiti Sains Malaysia chemical science graduate and has been in student activism since his university days.
A one-semester suspension from studies when he was found wearing and selling anti-ISA badges in 2001 spurred him to further his activism instead of deterring him from politics.
The former Suaram Penang coordinator is also involved in helping local communities, especially plantation workers. He joined PSM in 2005 and worked for Dr Michael D Jeyakumar as his assistant in 2008.
Cold War mentality
Choo’s father passed away 13 years ago and his mother is retired but earns pocket money by doing odd jobs at a factory. His younger brother is a storekeeper in a factory.
During detention, Choo said that interrogators tried to change his ideologies but it hardly worked.
“Basically they said our actions bring disturbances to the country.They repeatedly advised me ‘You get so little here doing politics, why don’t you find a better life, get married?’” said Choo.
Choo also said the police had tried to ‘divide and conquer’ them by telling another detainee that Choo himself was untrustworthy.
“They say all sorts of things just to cause distrust among detainees. I think they used such tactics to get information,” he said.
Choo was also asked why he, as a Chinese, would want to join PSM.
“I joined them because I see good work done by the PSM and my race never mattered. I was really moved by their work with plantation workers and my reward, although not big, was the satisfaction of changing people’s lives that is better than money,” he said.
The focus of questionings also brought police to Choo’s overseas trips. They asked if he had ever been to the Southern Thailand to meet ex-communists.
“But I only went to Bangkok for a holiday,” he said.
Southern Thailand is now home to former leaders of the Communist Party of Malaya who gave up their struggle after inking a peace pact with the Malaysian government in 1989.
The police had seized T-shirts depicting ex-communist leaders and had accused PSM of seeking to revive communism.
Choo said interrogations during EO detention was on average six hours a day, from 10am after breakfast into the afternoon. After 2pm lunch, it would stretch up to 6pm and then detainees are allowed some free time.
Choo said the results of his daily questionings resulted in a 60-page “book” of his life.
He also said that he wasn’t allowed to bring even a pen or paper into his 2×2.5 metre cell. There were also two beds and a wooden floor board and a tiny box as a toilet.
“I don’t hate the police, there are good men out there. It’s the problem with the leadership, they still live in colonial era… with all these allegations of the threat of communism… it’s very Cold War mentality and too simplistic,” he said.
Choo, who is described by a friend as ”old fashioned and soft-spoken” but also “sincere and progressive” activist, said his detention has merely strengthened his resolve to continue his political career as he now has more “hope for advancing democracy and social justice”.

Full House at Bar Council’s Public Forum Titled “Emergency Ordinance – The Other ISA” (20 July 2011)

Contributed by Sumitha Shaanthinni Kishna, Executive Officer, with photos by Satha Selvan Subramaniam, Administrative Assistant, Bar Council 

The recent public forum on “Emergency Ordinance – The Other ISA” that was held at 8:30 pm, on 20 July 2011 (Wednesday) witnessed a full house at the Bar Council Auditorium!  The event, jointly organised by Bar Council, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (“SUARAM”) and Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (“GMI”), was attended by approximately 270 participants.  

Before the public forum began, a candlelight vigil was held for the six activists of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (“PSM”) – Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj, M Saraswathy, Choo Chon Kai, M Sukumaran, A Letchumanan and Sarat Babu – who had been detained under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 (“EO”) since 2 July 2011.  The lively vigil, which took place at 7:45 pm in front of the Bar Council premises, was interspersed with the ardent cries of “Hidup! Hidup! Hidup rakyat!” and “Bebas! Bebas! Bebas tahanan!”, and ended with solidarity speeches.  A small team of police officers kept watch on the peaceful gathering from across the road. 

After the vigil, participants headed up to the Bar Council Auditorium for the public forum.  With practically all 250 seats occupied, the auditorium was almost filled to the brim, causing many members of the audience, including the media crew, to stretch out on the floor.  The event was also broadcast live on durianFM.com, an online radio station – the first time a Bar Council public forum was aired in real time.

The public forum, which was moderated by Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, Chairperson of GMI, featured a panel of speakers consisting of Christopher Leong, Vice-President of the Malaysian Bar, S Arutchelvan, Secretary-General of PSM and Edmund Bon, Member of the Malaysian Bar.  Christopher Leong began by discussing the meaning and interpretation of article 10 of the Federal Constitution, on the freedom of assembly and its curtailment under the EO.  S Arutchelvan then gave a witness account of what had transpired at the arrest scene of the six activists and his encounter with the police at the police station.  Edmund Bon, on the other hand, updated the audience on the progress of the habeas corpus application filed on behalf of the six activists. 

Although the three speakers relayed different aspects of the arrest, they spoke in unison when calling for the repeal of the EO.  The audience was reminded that while the Internal Security Act (“ISA”) had gained notorious publicity over the years due to fervent and incessant campaigning by anti-ISA groups, the EO was no less severe in its disregard for human rights and due process of the law.  Similar to the ISA, the EO allowed the police to arrest and detain a person without trial, in addition to denying detainees the chance to defend themselves in a full and fair hearing.  However, unlike the ISA, information regarding EO detainees has rarely been made public.  Edmund Bon revealed that a startling figure of approximately 1,000 to 2,000 detainees, including minors below the age of 18 years, were currently held under the EO.

Observing the overwhelming turnout at the public forum, Nalini Elumalai, Programme Manager of SUARAM, commented that it was “the biggest show of support for the six activists so far”.  She elaborated that it also reflected the eagerness of the Malaysian public to learn more about the EO and its arbitrary use by the police and Ministry of Home Affairs.  Thus, it should come as no surprise that during the question-and-answer session that followed, several participants raised questions about the EO, in addition to discussing the best ways to repeal it and garner more support for the release of the six activists.  Anne Ooi, Malaysia’s very own “Lady of Liberty”, was also present to encourage participants to continue to rally for the release of the six activists.

In conclusion, the following excerpt from the Malaysian Bar press release dated 5 July 2011 (“Halt Assault on Rule of Law and Democratic Rights”) sums up the Bar’s position:

The Malaysian Bar reiterates its resolute stand that the EO, along with the Internal Security Act 1960 and other preventive detention legislation, are archaic and repressive laws whose continued use is repugnant to civil society… The authorities should charge the six individuals in open court and disclose the evidence against them so that they may receive a full and fair hearing, or release them without delay.

Click here to listen to a recording of the public forum.  

Note: On 29 July 2011 (Friday), the six PSM members were released unconditionally, after 28 days in detention.

Bald statement against draconian laws

17 people, including three women, scarifice their manes in protest against detention without trial laws

PETALING JAYA(FMT): Seventeen people, three of them women, went bald today in Penang to protest against detention without trial laws.

The event was initially to take place in three cities – Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang – to protest the detention of six PSM members who held under the Emergency Ordinance(EO).

The PSM members were released unconditionally yesterday evening.

Following this, the Ipoh and the Kuala Lumpur event did not take place. However organisers in Penang followed through with the plan despite their release.

“Although the six were released, there are many others who are still being detained under draconian laws,” said  organiser,  Lee Hui Fei.

She said the event took place at 8am this morning at the Dayang Baru market in Penang.

Among those who went bald were assemblymen The Yee Cheu (Tanjung Bungah), Koay Teng Guan (Sungai Pinang), Ong Jing Cheng (Suaram Penang coordinator), Loo Que Lin (Suaram Penang secretariat).

Symbolic gesture

PKR’s Mohd Rashid Hasnon, sacrificed his beard in protest. The three women who went bald were Soh Sook Wah (a PSM member), Loo Que Lin and Yap Soo Hueng.

Lee said that volunteers from a hair saloon had lent their assistance to the cause by helping to shave of the hairs of the 18 people,
Lee said that the group was formed recently after the arrest of the six  PSM members. She added that the group consisted of around 20 “concerned citizens”.

“This is the last activity for the EO6. After this, we will continue with other activities in protest of detentions without trial,” she said.

“Shaving our hair was a symbolic gesture to voice our discontent against the government. We love ourselves, as well as our hair, but we love freedom, truth and justice even more”.

The group vowed to continue their fight against the  “inhumane oppression and detention without trial in the country”.

DAP: Repealing EO might save Najib’s credibility

(Malaysiakini) In order to regain credibility after the “gross mishandling” of the PSM 6, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak must publicly repeal the EO and annul the obsolete emergency proclamations as well as other “oppressive legislature”, says Lim Kit Siang.

In a statement today, Lim said the release of the PSM 6 does not restore Najib's credibility, as it was his government's “high-handed” handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally that had landed the six in detention in the first place.

“It was (Najib's) greatest failure of leadership as prime minister leaving his credibility in tatters – which is why his claim yesterday, that the release of the PSM6 under the Emergency Ordinance was in accordance with the rule of law, was met with nation-wide derision.

Lim slammed the PM for the “arbitrary and totally unjustifiable arrests” of the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members over a month ago, “first on the ridiculous grounds of 'waging war against the Agong' and 'reviving communism' and then under EO for being 'prime movers' of Bersih”.

The six were finally released yesterday evening after mounting pressure from PSM, politicians and a cross section of civil society both at home and abroad.

They were part of a group of 30 party members arrested on June 25 during the massive pre-Bersih crackdown.

'Repeal EO now'

Lim said the PM's handling of the rally was amongst the failures that marked Najib's “worst period” in office, “making him the object of ridicule and scorn not only in the country but also internationally”.

The only way Najib could restore any credibility, said the veteran DAP leader, was for him to publicly annul the obsolete emergency proclamations, and repeal the EO and other “oppressive legislature”.

The home minister and IGP also needed to issue an immediate apology to the PSM 6 for “unlawful detention”.

He also called for the “ridiculous ban on Bersih 2.0" and on things yellow like the Bersih T-shirt be lifted, and for a Royal Commission of Inquiry on free and fair elections to make recommendations prior to the next general election.

EO6: A bitter lesson for the govt

The Najib administration should now learn to respect the ‘rule of law’ instead of bending over backwards to fulfill its own hidden agendas

COMMENT

Abusing the Emergency Ordinance 1969, six breadwinners of their families’ were thrown behind bars and defamed with having waged a war against the King, holding subversive beliefs and instigating the rakyat to attend a rally which the police had deemed illegal.

Yesterday, 28 days later, all six were set free, unconditionally. The question that begs an answer from Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is: What happened in those 28 days’ that made him, his cousin the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar realise that the six are innocent and should rightfully be released?

Or was it a case of all three parties being well aware of the innocence of the six but proceeded to used them as scapegoats, hoping to teach Malaysians in general a lesson for taking to the streets on July 9, 2011 and challenging the ‘powers that be’?

The six detained were Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael D Jeyakumar, Parti Sosialis Malaysia deputy president M Sarasvathy, central committee members Choo Chon Kai and M Sukumaran, Youth chief R Saratbabu and Sungai Siput branch secretary A Letchumanan.

Despite cooperating with the police, the six were treated like hardcore criminals, being held in solitary confinement and deprived of all basic necessities including their medication as in the case of Jeyakumar and Sarasvathy.

It was much later that the police claimed the six were detained for allegedly being “movers” for the July 9, 2011, rally organised by election watchdog Bersih 2.0 (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections).

However, none of the six were steering committee members of the Bersih 2.0 which was declared illegal by the government. The coalition comprises of more than 60 non-governmental organisations.

What rule of law, Najib?

On July 29, after a tormenting 28-day ordeal, when all six were released, Najib had this to say: “It is a decision (to release) taken by the police based on their own observation.

“We accept the decision made by the police… it is up to the attorney-general to decide on the next course of action. As a sovereign country we uphold the rule of law.”

Is Najib confirming that this country has turned into a police state, with the police having absolute liberty to detain and abuse whoever they wish?

Premier Najib said Malaysia as a sovereign country upholds the rule of law.

The rule of law states that individuals, persons and government shall submit to, obey and be regulated by law and not arbitrary action by an individual or a group of individuals.

Clearly Najib contradicted himself, for in the case of the six, the rule of law was never applied. It was the arbitrary action of the ‘powers that be’ that resulted in the detention of the six who later became known as PSM6.

And in case Najib has forgotten, the rule of law applies to the government as well, compelling it to obey the law and not manipulate it to serve the interest of a select few.

PM pressured to release PSM6
The PSM6 were finally set free not because the police or Najib had an awakening of any kind. Rather, it has to with the Barisan Nasional government’s fight for survival in light of the coming general election has brought the Federal government to its knees.

The pressure was made worse by the severe condemnation and pressure for their release that came pouring in after the six were held under the EO.

The release of the PSM6 certainly calls for a celebration and for sure it excludes all gratitude to Najib.

Hours after his release, Jeyakumar told reporters the release of PSM6 was a “smart political move” by Najib in face of the eroding public support.

“It’s definitely due to public pressure that we were released. He was losing popularity and realised that it too politically costly to keep holding us,” Jeyakumar said.

He added that it was the pressure imposed by the people that forced the government to release him and his party colleagues.

Jeyakumar said there were strong movements by the people in holding candlelight vigils, peace marches and hunger strikes nationwide, all calling for the release of the six.

“It’s not because the police were being sensible. They were out to get us to use us as an example.”
He said PSM’s next step would be to gauge the situation and perhaps file a case as they had been wrongly detained under the Emergency Ordinance.

“It’s a huge step forward for democracy, a victory for all of us,” added Jeyakumar.

Government’s agenda
Jeyakumar believes the government and the police had their own agendas and aims. The good doctor during a family visit while in detention had said the police were “not listening” and were trying to frame the six based on unsubstantiated allegations.

This in spite of all six having cooperated with the police, giving rise to the conclusion that the police was finding ways of incarcerating them.

With no other avenue left, Jeyakumar decided to go on a hunger strike on July 28, to demand the release of PSM6. Supporting him were 14 members from five PSM Perak branches.

The PSM6 were arrested in Kepala Batas on June 26 on claims that they were distributing leaflets urging the public to support the Bersih 2.0 demands for free and fair elections.

They were then re-arrested on July 2 under the EO which allows the police to detain suspects for up to 60 days.

A habeas corpus application was also filed by the family members of the PSM 6 to secure their release, and Aug 5 was fixed for the hearing date of the application.

It is hoped the PSM6 detention will serve as a bitter lesson for the Barisan Nasional government, prompting it to respect the ‘rule of law’ and not bend it backwards to fulfill its own hidden agendas.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance journalist and an FMT columnist.

90 groups demand release of EO6

A group of about 200 people gathered outside the federal police headquarters demanding that the six detained PSM leaders be released.

VIDEO INSIDE

KUALA LUMPUR: “Free them now! Free the detainees! Abolish the Emergency Ordinance!,” they shouted.

A few hundred people gathered outside the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters here after Friday prayers today demanding the unconditional release of six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members who are being detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO), which allows for detention without trial.

The group representing some 90 groups started gathering at 2.30pm and was led by PSM, which handed over a memorandum to the police.

“We feel that this constitutes political robbery. We are being blacklisted as human beings by the authorities,” PSM president Dr Nasir Hashim said.

“There should no longer be any considerations, release them now. We are proud to be gathering here today as we want them to know that the power of the people decides things. We pay taxes and we vote.

This is unfortunate. Bersih rally is over, why detain them?” asked Hashim on a loud-hailer to a cheering crowd.

The police, who stood a distance away, showed noticeable restraint and allowed the group of about 200 or so to gather with banners condemning the police for more than an hour.

Police also moved the crowd to a shaded area at the sidewalk and monitored the crowd silently.

Addressing the crowd, PKR vice-president Tian Chua said the government is still dozing as it failed to realise it is not relevant anymore.

“This is the time of the rise of the rakyat. We will not stop here. If this memorandum is ignored, we will return in bigger numbers!” he said.

“This (protest) is not just for the six detained under the EO but to free our people, our rakyat, from the clutches of cruelty,” he added.

Earlier today, a habaes corpus application asking for the release of the six was postponed by the High Court to August.

PAS leader Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the people today are “forced to gather to protest”.

“They (six detainees) have been detained for 12 days for supposedly waging war against the King. “But we all know it is about Bersih 2.0, which actually wants to clean everything dirty in the country. We don’t want to see our country continuing with such draconian and feudal laws.”

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo questioned why the EO was still being used when the nation was obviously not in a state of emergency.

“According to the minister and police, we are still in emergency. Do we see communist coming here?”
“We will fight. This is a warning to the government. Don’t play with the people, we can determine who is the government,” said Gobind.



Women’s Aid Organisation leader Ivy Josiah said the people were not fooled by the arrest.

“You are not fooling us. For over 30 years they have been activists. They are good people… why are they in jail? EO is a lazy law when they can’t investigate properly,” said Josiah.

Activist Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim said he challenged the police to bring three religious leaders and he would bring his scholars as he could prove that police action was “illegal according to Islamic statutes”.
The memorandum was handed over to public relation officer DSP Lai Lee Ching .

Previously several memorandums had been sent to the government pressuring for the release of the six detainees.

Other efforts include daily candlelight vigils, lodging mass police reports and a signature drive.
Thirty PSM members were arrested on June 26 and remanded on suspicion of waging war against the King. After the expiry of a seven-day remand period on July 2, the six were detained without trial under the EO.

The PSM EO6, as they are now known, are Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar, PSM deputy president M Sarasvathy, central committee members Choo Chon Kai and M Sugumaran, Youth chief R Saratbabu and Sungai Siput branch secretary A Letchumanan.

The six were part of a group of 30 PSM activists who were arrested at the Sungai Dua toll plaza in Kepala Batas, Penang, while on their nationwide roadshow to call the rakyat to vote for change.

Habeas corpus hearing of EO6 adjourned to Aug 5

High Court judge adjourned the hearing on the grounds that the government wants to reply to the 15 affidavits filed by applicants' lawyers.

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today allowed an application to adjourn hearing of the habeas corpus applications of six Parti Sosialis Malaysia leaders who have been held under the Emergency Ordinance since July 2.

Justice Su Geok Yiam allowed the adjournment on the grounds that the government wants to reply to the 15 affidavits filed by applicants’ lawyers.

In allowing time for the prosecution to file its affidavit, Justice Su said she was bound by a Federal Court ruling to give parties time to reply to the affidavits.

The judge fixed Aug 5 to hear the applications.The habeas corpus filing was done on July 6.
Justice Su also agreed to the adjournment after senior federal counsel Othman Yusof highlighted the most recent affidavits filed by Dr Subramaniam Pillai on behalf of the detainees.

“There are many claims that needs to be answered,” Othman said, in a crowded courtroom.
He is assisted by fellow senior federal counsel Amir Nasaruddin, Mohd Zain Ibrahim and Zafran Zafri Zaini.

Sulaiman Abdullah who led the appellant’s legal team was even willing to forfeit the 15 affidavits that was not addressed by the government in favor of a hearing today. This was dismissed by the court
The appelants’ legal team are also made up of Edmund Bon, Amer Hamzah Arshad, B Maha, K Arumugam, Aziri Malek, Baljit Singh, James Khong, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Ong Yu Jian and Andy Yong.

Continued detention in wrong

Sulaiman argued: “Continued detention is wrong in law. How do you justify continued detention (of the EO 6) after July 9?”

The EO 6 as they are now known are Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar along with five other activists – PSM deputy president M Sarasvathy, central committee members Choo Chon Kai and M Sugumaran, youth chief R Saratbabu and Sungai Siput branch secretary A Letchumanan.

They were rearrested on July 2 under section 3 (1) Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969 (EO).

They were initially detained under section 122 of the Penal Code for allegedly waging war against the King late last month.

Sulaiman also raised the right to counsel for the detainees as provided by section 28(A) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Othman countered by pointing out that legal access was not necessary for those detained under preventive detention laws but the points were rebutted by Sulaiman.

Khairy breaks ranks, calls for release of EO6

The Umno Youth chief says he will convey his personal view to the prime minister.

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has broken ranks by calling for the release of six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO).

Khairy, who called the arrests “misguided” and will convey his personal view to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, is the first leader from Barisan Nasional (BN) to call for the release of the EO6.

The Rembau MP said in his Twitter posting this morning that the authorities had made the arrest based on “misguided” information, adding that he will convey this to Najib when he returns from his overseas trip tomorrow.

“I think govt acted on misleading info. I have listened to many of Dr (D) Jeyakumar’s speeches in Parliament. Intellectual & not subversive,” Khairy said, referring to the MP for Sungai Siput.
“PM @NajibRazak arriving tomorrow. Will convey my personal view that YB Dr Jeyakumar & others should be released from EO detention,” he added.

Jeyakumar and five other PSM activists were arrested in Penang seven days before the July 9 rally organised by polls watchdog Bersih 2.0, while distributing leaflets calling on the public to support the group’s demands for free and fair elections.

Their arrests were part of an internationally criticised government clampdown on Bersih activists in the build-up to the protest that saw more than 1,600 detained on the July 9 march.

While most have been freed, the “PSM 6″ are still under detention. They have been arrested under Section 121 of the Penal Code for attempting to wage war against the King.

The section reads: “Whoever wages war or attempts to do so against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or against any of the state rulers shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life and a fine if not sentenced to death.”

They are also accused of attempting to “revive communism” for allegedly having T-shirts bearing the likenesses of former communist leaders.

PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan condemned the arrests and accused the authorities of “making up conspiracy theories” to justify their detention.

Edmund Bon, the lawyer representing the six, backed this claim and said that none of the affidavits filed by the police mentioned anything about communism or attempts to wage war against the King.

Umno ministers including Najib himself insisted that their detention is lawful and was done for national security.

The EO was enacted in 1969 as a temporary measure to respond to the May 13 riots, which allows for detention without trial.

Nazri: EO needed to curtail communism

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz says communism is still around and that's why there is a necessity for the Emergency Ordinance and the ISA.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is justifying the continued use of the Emergency Ordinance by invoking the spectre of communism and saying communism is still a threat to national security.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said as long as communism is still around, preventive laws such as the Emergency Ordinance (EO) are here to stay.

He said although Malaysia was not experiencing an insurgency, these laws were still seen as a necessity to the government.

“The name of the law is just Emergency Ordinance. The communist (insurgency), even though it has been declared over, the EO is still in effect so that this (communism) will not happen,” he told reporters at a press conference at the KL Sentral Hilton.

Nazri was answering questions raised by human rights groups that the EO, along with other laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) were no longer needed.

Yesterday, the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) said that the six PSM activists detained under the EO – for allegedly being a national threat – on July 2 should have been given due process in court.

Proham added that sections under the Penal Code would have been enough for the six, which included Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar.

The movement also said that Malaysia’s security forces were no longer fighting against an armed struggle, and protested the use of the EO, which slaps people with a 60-day detention order.

Possession of communism t-shirts

Nazri however, disagreed with this sentiment, and maintained that communism was still a threat to national security.

“The Emergency may have expired, but the communism understanding (fahaman) is still around. It doesn’t mean that even though there is no armed struggle …that we have accepted communism,” he said.

The minister maintained that the belief in communism was still very much alive and well, saying that this was demonstrated by the T-shirts that the PSM activists supposedly possessed.

Nazri said that possession of the T-shirts showed that use of the EO was warranted.

“This is a security issue, a problem that needs police action. If the police feel that it is affecting (national) security, then it is left to the police (to decide) according to the law or under the EO,” he said.

Protesters: We'll protest until PSM6 are out

Bukit Aman vigil for PSM 6