By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 29, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak has insisted that the release of six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members from their Emergency Ordinance (EO) detention was done according to the due process of the law.
The prime minister told reporters today that the decision to release Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Devaraj Jeyakumar and five others at 5.30pm was made by the police based on “their observations.”
“We welcome it. It is up to the Attorney General to decide on further action. As a country, we hold to the rule of law,” the Umno president said after chairing an Umno supreme council meeting.
However, The Malaysian Insider understands that several younger leaders at the meeting that began at about 4pm had asked Najib to “rethink Jeyakumar’s detention.”
The six were initially held on June 25 with 24 others in the run-up to the July 9 Bersih rally for allegedly attempting to revive communism and waging war against the Agong.
Dr Jeyakumar began a hunger strike yesterday to protest the detention without trial under the EO, his wife Mohanarani Rasiah had said.
Nearly 2,000 others, who were arrested in the days leading up to and during the outlawed July 9 rally for free and fair elections, have been released.
But the continued detention of the six had garnered widespread criticism from opposition figures and human rights activists with regular candlelight vigils being held nationwide calling for their release.
The Najib administration has already suffered international criticism over its handling of the Bersih rally, with influential media such as the Guardian, Wall Street Journal and al-Jazeera taking stinging tones towards the government crackdown.
Police had dispersed tens of thousands of demonstrators calling for electoral reform on July 9 with tear gas and water cannons and arrested nearly 1,700 on the day itself, leaving scores injured and the husband of a PKR division leader dead.
The released detainees, popularly known as the EO6, are scheduled to speak to the press at 7.30pm tonight.
UPDATED @ 07:36:03 29-07-2011
By Shannon Teoh
Jul 29, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 — Six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members, including Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Devaraj Jeyakumar, were released at 5.30pm this evening from their detention under the Emergency Ordinance (EO).
The MP’s brother-in-law, Selangor state executive councillor Xavier Jeyakumar, confirmed the news when contacted by The Malaysian Insider.
“Yes, his wife has spoken to him. We are trying to confirm the details now,” the PKR leader said.
PKR vice president N. Surendran also said related paperwork was being processed at the Jinjang police station.
According to The Star, the Attorney-General will decide on the next course of action for the six who were initially held on June 25 with 24 others in the run-up to the July 9 Bersih rally for allegedly attempting to revive communism and waging war against the Agong.
Dr Jeyakumar began a hunger strike yesterday to protest the detention without trial under the EO, his wife Mohanarani Rasiah had said.
Nearly 2,000 others, who were arrested in the days leading up to and during the outlawed July 9 rally for free and fair elections, have been released.
But the continued detention of the six had garnered widespread criticism from opposition figures and human rights activists with regular candlelight vigils being held nationwide calling for their release.
The Malaysian Insider also understands that an Umno supreme council meeting that began at 4pm today saw several young leaders ask Datuk Seri Najib Razak to “rethink Jeyakumar’s detention.”
The Najib administration has already suffered international criticism over its handling of the Bersih rally, with influential media such as the Guardian, Wall Street Journal and al-Jazeera taking stinging tones towards the government crackdown.
Police had dispersed tens of thousands of demonstrators calling for electoral reform on July 9 with tear gas and water cannons and arrested nearly 1,700 on the day itself, leaving scores injured and the husband of a PKR division leader dead.
Actually THAT is the problem – the detention show how broken our legal and enforcement system is. The EO 6 detention was clearly wrong and unjust. The rule of law allowed the police and state to be abusers and criminals. It has so little accountability TO PLAIN SIMPLE COMMON SENSE and allows the GREATEST STUPIDITY AND IRRESPONSIBILITY.
So lets fix the law – starting with those that made them in the first place.
Apparently Najib was under pressure to release the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members as even MIC president G. Palanivel and deputy president Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam were losing their patience.
MIC president G. Palanivel said the continued detention of the PSM leaders was attracting unnecessary “worldwide attention” and might also impact the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming general election.
Subramaniam claimed he had already informed the prime minister to release them a few days ago.
What is this Rule of Law that Najib is talking about?
Coming from Najib who is surely quite illiterate about the 3 pillars of government, I fail to understand the gibberish he is muttering. What Rule of Law when there was no basis for the incarceration in the first instance!
What Rule of Law, Najib? What Rule of Law? This is a legal, philosophical term – not like that 1MAlaysia slogan. Listen, you should understnad such a basic difference. Or, maybe you don’t!
Sorry for you, Jib. And very sad for malaysia when its PM keeps opening his big mouth and use big terms that he has little inkling about.
Say, najib, why don’t you have a little debate with Anwar and, once and for all, let Malaysians decide who is a better leader, a fairer statesman, a cleaner administrator. Put your money where your mouth is, not your foot-lah, man!
Show us your brains; not hide yourself behind your wife’s large skirt all the time.
BTW, cousin dua (NR and HH), are you also going to put Chan L:ilian under EO until she decides to go on a death fast?
Tsk! tsk! Budak-budak ni, apo nak kato.
BigDog borned out of bloody stinking c**t has something here with the inherent stinking breath to share with us:
http://malaysiansmustknowthetruth.blogspot.com/
Rule of law! Pls lah, NR n HH where got d otak 2 talk of it 1, they can stay in d cesspool
What 2 charge them with? Nothing lah! 莫须有
NR n mata-mata hoped 2 break d spirits of d 6 so dat they would confess 2 anything
But no chance lah
So, fr communism n plot 2 overthrow d king 2 no charge n unconditional release
NR, HH n mata-mata had cheated n wasted >1 precious month each of the lives of d 6
Many man hours wasted indeed n d 6 must b compensated by d evil gomen
Don’t care what Najib says about the release. We all know the truth.
Thank God, they are released without conditions, and without harm. That’s the most important thing.
We need to change the tenant at Putrajaya
If gangsters and thugs can be charged and punished for wrongful detention of a person, can the 6 detainees sue the police for their wrongful detention? After all what they did were no different from the thugs and gangsters, since they have no reasons to detain them according to the law.
Hope jibby won’t be saying this—“Do you remember Yul Brynner? I’ll be Yul Jibbi.
http://www.time.com/time/quotes
Chan Lilian will be charged for being a wahabbi (without wearing a tudung) and waging war against the king and queen and country and constitution…….
After that, mat sabu will be arrested and charged for being a zionist!
All the hooliganism applied by the police on BERSIH 2 walkers.. ends up with nothing…all are released.
That is ISA with no teeth applied.
Detain all any longer…all hell will go loose.
There is a limit to everything Najib and his band of robbers and thieves can do….using their chosen hooligans.
Today is no more like 1969.
Smarter Malaysians makes cowards actions and deeds look stupid.
It is a sign that BERSIH will clobber KOTOR just by walking…and perhaps singing too..in the future.
‘These Shoes{Boots} Are Made For Walking”….nice theme song to sing…plus ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon …”…change the words…to “Wear a Yellow T-Shirt…..”
Trying so hard to scare off Malaysians…did not work.
The usual blame game will be on….by UMNO B bloggers.
From Day 1 it was never about Rule of Law – (re ENDANGERED HORNBILL’S posting). It was to stop Bersih. It was to preserve a set of values – no public street demonstration. This is defended upon argument that it has never been a Malaysian tradition to street protest; also the right to assembly if not controlled is said to provide the milieu for radical and anti-national elements to spark disturbance of peace in a multi-racial society. The actual purpose is to confine Malaysians political participation to conventional means of ballot box which process has over 40 years been refined to weigh in favour of the incumbent ruling coalition and the top 1% political elites & their corporate cronies to enjoy unfair access to the wealth of the nation! Blocked the opposite side resorts to “unconventional” means of peaceful activism (by marches) to make their grievances known. The intent is to stop this development.
The well tried means horned over 40 years is use of state power to limit political action (otherwise loosely term as repression of which the law enforcement resources of the state are convenient instrument. Dr Jeyakumar & PSM members are convenient targets to use as deterrent to others to support and join Bersih. Besides being outside the main Opposition parties (PAS, PKR & DAP), they carry the baggage of being “Socialists”. Since not everyone but the erudite know the difference between socialism and communism as ideology, they are convenient targets to be skewed ‘communist”, a convenient bogeyman from the Cold War days era when every regime making claims to democracy was against the Communists identified with overthrowing constitutional govt by revolution! Hence the first accusation of waging war against the King , lacking evidence of which, preventive detention under EO would serve the purpose.
Main use of Dr Jeyakumar & PSM are that they are the more convenient targets for deterrence of others to join Bersih that must not have the numbers to develop the critical mass. However Bersih had come (on July 9th), done the damage, and is now past. Its time for reflection, post mortem and damage control and move forward. They learn from using repressive methods (ie arrests chemical laced water & tear gas) on Bersih marchers that more and more ordinary people appeared immunized and now prepared to subordinate seeking personal safety by hunkering below the police radar to that of surfacing above it. Repressive action on Bersih’s peaceful activism has set the stage for exactly the kind of political challenge that repression is meant to prevent: ie the building of broad alliances from diverse segment of society who now perceive an increasing danger to their own collective interests if they remain silent on election shenanigans. It is the Age of more educated populace dabbling with face book twitter, surfing You Tube and they must be dealt with in a different way than as mere sheep.
Continuing from preceding post (currently under moderation) – Apply that lesson learnt from Bersih’s handling (or bungling) to specific case of continuing to detain Dr Jeya & PSM6 under EO. The raison de etre of detaining them was in first instance to deter Bersih. It was political agenda and not the Rule of Law. With Bersih already past, damage already inflicted – to carry on detaining- it serves little purpose, except to aggravate. It seems on balance of scale of political benefit weighed against cost not helpful at all to the incumbent ruling party whose younger members (eg Khairy) are even beginning to break ranks on this issue, worried that it will draw more negative flak than reap positive repercussions in terms of the ruling party’s interests and electoral chances. From the beginning of detention till their release political benefit versus costs are main considerations – under the pretext of Rule of Law that never was.
Congratulations to Dr Jeyakumar and his colleagues. You won.
Najib lost. Big time.
According to the law? Dr Jeyakumar’s hunger strike did the trick. Najib thought his jungle laws would break the opposition but he underestimated the resolve of the EO-6. Imagine if Dr Jeyakumar had fasted to the death. And I am sure another would then take his place. BN would sink faster than a ship that’s been torpedoed.
God saves the Queen but nothing will save BN this time round and ever.
They forgot dat we r now in a different world, they forgot d power of d Internet n social media, n they can’t simply fool rakyat through 1 sided propaganda n lies by msm
Rakyat r empowered 2 dissect d lies spread by NR, UmnoB, n mata-mata