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Double standards on ‘illegal’ DVD charge

Perak: MB, BN Adun open to similar illegal DVD charge
By Clara Chooi | The Malaysian Insider

IPOH, Sept 7 — With a Perak DAP assemblyman facing the possibility of being charged in court for his unapproved DVD production, the authorities seem to have found themselves caught in a Catch-22 situation.

Questions now center on whether they would eventually be forced to slap similar charges on Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and MCA’s Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon for allegedly committing a similar crime.

If so, this would mean the duo would also face the possibility of losing their state seats should the courts find them guilty.

The Malaysian Insider understands that it is likely that they too had failed to obtain approval from the Film Censorship Board prior to their DVD production of the tumultuous May 7 assembly sitting.
Continue reading “Double standards on ‘illegal’ DVD charge”

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Rebuttal to Josh Treviño on Anwar Ibrahim’s Trial

by Azeem Ibrahim
Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School’s International Security Program
August 10, 2010

In Malaysia, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been put on trial for sodomy. In the main, the Western political establishment is skeptical about the trial, believing it to be a politically motivated attempt to remove the popular opposition leader from the political scene before he can take power. As is the Malaysian public. Only 11 percent believe the charge, and 88 percent think it’s a political conspiracy.

Public Relations professional Joshua Treviño has been on “attack-Anwar” mode lately, authoring several pieces in recent months critiquing Anwar and questioning his credibility in the West. In his most recent piece, Treviño doesn’t come right out and say that the trial is genuine, but he does try to give a few reasons as to why we should question the conventional wisdom that the trial is merely a political maneuver to get rid of Anwar. Those reasons fall short. Let us look at them one by one.

In the article Treviño argues that Anwar’s relative popularity in the West is based on the mistaken impression that he shares many of the West’s political values.

But Anwar is popular in the West because he has consistently called for democracy, good governance, accountability, and dialogue of civilizations. Compare this to the current Prime Minister, or any of his predecessors, who have said relatively little about such things in Malaysia and done even less to reform a system saddled with endemic corruption. Continue reading “Rebuttal to Josh Treviño on Anwar Ibrahim’s Trial”

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Denying Anwar Natural Justice

By Dr Chen Man Hin

IT IS NATURAL JUSTICE FOR ANWAR IBRAHIM TO HAVE ACCESS TO ALL EVIDENCE IN SODOMY 2 TRIAL

Denial of clinical evidence from Anwar Ibrahim to defend himself to face a charge of sodomy is a denial of natural justice for Anwar. Before this, he was also denied of evidence several times on previous occasions in the course of the trial.

In any trial, any one charged with a crime, surely has a right to ask his accuser (the prosecution) to produce the evidence. To deny the accused of the so called charge is surely a denial of natural justice for the accused.

This is substantiated by a clause in the INTERNATIONAL COVENANT IN CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS passed by the United Nations, ‘which guarantees the accused the right to have adequate time and facilities to the preparation of defence. Article 14 (3) (6) of the Covenant guarantees that legal representation of the defendant should have access to all relevant material and evidence.’
Continue reading “Denying Anwar Natural Justice”

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Will the 4 MCA Ministers ignore Muhyiddin’s most improper/unwarranted “stern warning” and raise at Cabinet tomorrow issue of Home Ministry withdrawing its appeal on “Allah” controversy?

The Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Umno President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had acted completely out of turn in issuing a most improper and unwarranted “stern warning” to MCA to accept the decision of the government and should not trigger another debate on the word “Allah”.

Does this mean that the MCA leadership, despite having four Ministers in Cabinet, are not allowed to raise in tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting a proposal to ask the Ministers to take a policy decision to withdraw the Home Ministry’s appeal against the Lau Bee Lan judgment of the Kuala Lumpur High Court in January which allowed the Catholic Church to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its publication, Herald?

Such a proposal in tomorrow’s Cabinet would be most timely, appropriate and fully in accord with the national interests in view of the admission by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein that his predecessor Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church.

Are there two classes of Ministers – those who can raise issues in Cabinet and ask for policy decisions to be made or reviewed and the lower class of Ministers who cannot raise issues which are regarded as “sensitive” by the first class of Ministers?
Continue reading “Will the 4 MCA Ministers ignore Muhyiddin’s most improper/unwarranted “stern warning” and raise at Cabinet tomorrow issue of Home Ministry withdrawing its appeal on “Allah” controversy?”

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Cabinet should make a decision to withdraw the appeal against Lau Bee Lan judgment on the Allah controversy

The Cabinet should make a decision to withdraw the appeal against the KL High Court judgment of Lau Bee Lan on the Allah controversy now that the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has admitted that his predecessor, Tan Sri Hamid Albar should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church.

Speaking at the Fourth Annual Malaysian Student Leaders’ Summit yesterday, Hishammuddin admitted that this issue will continue to haunt his ministry “for a very long time”, saying: “We should have let the sleeping dogs lie.”

With Hishamuddin’s admission, the Cabinet should do what it had failed to do these past six months after the Lau Bee Lan judgement in January, i.e. take a policy decision that the Home Ministry should withdraw its appeal against the High Court judgement allowing the Catholic Church to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia sections of its newspapers, Herald, to demonstrate the government’s seriousness and commitment to resolve the issue through inter-religious dialogue.
So far, Cabinet Ministers had been denied the right to consider whether the Home Ministry should withdraw its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment on the “Allah” controversy.
Continue reading “Cabinet should make a decision to withdraw the appeal against Lau Bee Lan judgment on the Allah controversy”

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Bolstering and Breeding Bigotry in Bolehland

By Martin Jalleh

The light, lenient, ludicrous and laughable court sentences on the cow-head protestors lends credence to the growing belief that Umno lives and lasts on bigotry

On 28 August last year, more than 50 people, shortly after their Friday prayers, marched from the Selangor state mosque in Shah Alam to the Selangor State Secretariat to protest the relocation of a 150-year old Hindu temple to their neighbourhood.

Amidst strong chants of “Allahuakbar!” they dragged and paraded the severed and bloodied head of a cow. One of their leaders shouted “I guarantee bloodshed and racial tension (if the temple relocation takes place)”.

Some of them made fiery speeches, spat on the severed cow’s head, kicked it, stomped on it, dumped it in front of the gates of the State Secretariat and proudly posed for photos, as police stood stoically, silently and submissively by.
Continue reading “Bolstering and Breeding Bigotry in Bolehland”

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Will Mahathir or any of his Ministers in 2002 Cabinet testify in court of being misled by Ling to approve Port Klang Authority’s purchase of PKFZ land with 15-year repayment with compound interest instead of 10 years?

The charge preferred against former MCA President and Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik, in connection with the RM12.5 million Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal has mystified many.

The charge against Ling reads:

“That you, between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002, at Level 4 of the Prime Minister’s Office in Bangunan Perdana Putra, cheated the Govern ment by deceiving the Cabinet into approving a land purchase in Pulau Indah for a Mega Distribution Hub project in Port Klang according to the terms agreed between Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd and Port Klang Authority which, among others, are:

  1. the size of the land being 999.5 acres or 43,538,200 sq ft

  2. the purchase price for the land being RM25 per sq ft amounting to a total of RM1,088,456,000

  3. the repayment period being based on a “deferred payment” of 15 years with an interest rate of 7.5% per annum (total RM720,014,600), and thereby dishonestly hiding the fact that the valuation by the Valuation and Property Service Department on the land was RM25 per sq ft for a repayment period of 10 years or RM25.82 per sq ft for a repayment period of 15 years, including coupon/interest that could be charged for the repayment period.

Continue reading “Will Mahathir or any of his Ministers in 2002 Cabinet testify in court of being misled by Ling to approve Port Klang Authority’s purchase of PKFZ land with 15-year repayment with compound interest instead of 10 years?”

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PKFZ scandal: Ex-transport minister Ling charged

Malaysiakini

Former transport minister Ling Liong Sik was today charged at the Kajang Sessions Court over his involvement in the multi-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Ling, 67, who is also former MCA president, is by far the most prominent politician to be nabbed in recent years.

He is charged under Section 418 of the Penal Code with misleading the cabinet between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002 into agreeing to purchase 999.5 acres of land on Pulau Indah for a project, that is now known as PKFZ, at a price of RM25psf on a deferred payment method for a 15-year period, at a 7.5 interest rate.

The cumulative interest paid would total at RM720 million at the end of the repayment period.

He was also ffered an alternative charge under Section 417 of the Penal Code for the same offence.
Continue reading “PKFZ scandal: Ex-transport minister Ling charged”

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Can Najib guarantee safety of ex-RMAF sergeant Thamendran while awaiting trial of theft of two jet-fighter engines?

It is another international infamy for Malaysia that former RMAF sergeant N. Tharmendran, 42, feels comparatively safer in Sungai Buloh prison while he awaits trial for the theft of two jet-fighter engines than to be out of jail.

It was only 11 days ago he was freed when he and his family successfully waged a six-month battle to reduce his RM150,000 bail to RM50,000.

It is a terrible indictment on the system of governance in Malaysia that a person should feel safer in prison custody than to be out as a free man, for fear of being abducted and tortured again by military intelligence officers, as Tharmendran had alleged that he had been previously detained and tortured by military intelligence for three weeks and the “favourite torture” was to make him wear a crash helmet where he was repeatedly hit as hard as possible.

Thamendran’s personal safety and welfare while he awaits trial for theft of two jet-fighter engines has again put national and international focus on “institutional degradation” which the New Economic Model had identified as one of the causes of Malaysia’s economic stagnation and “declining growth trajectory”.
Continue reading “Can Najib guarantee safety of ex-RMAF sergeant Thamendran while awaiting trial of theft of two jet-fighter engines?”

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Another international infamy for Malaysia

Tweets:
Another international infamy for Malaysia http://bit.ly/bREG7C Ex-airman back to jail after losing protection bid
07/19/2010 06:31 PM

Where othr civilized countries a person safer in prison than outside? http://bit.ly/c2PFs6 No protection order, so ex-airman chooses jail
07/19/2010 06:38 PM

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Ex-airman back to jail after losing protection bid
By Boo Su-Lyn | The Malaysian Insider

PETALING JAYA, July 19 — Former air force sergeant N. Tharmendran is returning to prison today after losing his bid for a court protection order against Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) officers he claims intend to abduct him.
Continue reading “Another international infamy for Malaysia”

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Tian Chua’s status as MP

Tweets:

Arr in Labuan w @tonypua 4DAP Labuan dinner/crmh @tianchua disqualified by RM2k fine but he has 14 days 2appeal under Art 48 of Constitution
06/18/2010 01:39 PM

Position pertaining 2 @tianchua’s parliamentary position is laid down in Art 48(4)(4) of Msian Constitution
06/18/2010 01:49 PM

As I read Art 48 Constitution it makes no difference whether fine paid or not, so long as appeal is exercised within 14 days RT @PuteraPedang @tonypua @tianchua TC didn’t bother to appeal. He already paid the penalty in full.
06/18/2010 03:26 PM
Continue reading “Tian Chua’s status as MP”

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Karpal acquitted of sedition charge – defence not called

Tweets

Prosecutor failed to establish prima facie sedition case against Karpal. He’s free! http://tweetphoto.com/26623554
Friday, June 11, 2010 3:25 PM

Great news recd in KB! Sedition charge agnst DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh dismissed by KL High Court – no defence called.
Friday, June 11, 2010 3:25 PM

Karpal acquitted – AG Gani Patail shd b censured in Parliament n Ct of public opinion 4bowing 2political pressures 2charge K 4sedition #fb
Friday, June 11, 2010 4:03 PM Continue reading “Karpal acquitted of sedition charge – defence not called”

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Matthias Chang: Martyr without a cause?

By NH Chan

APRIL 11 — In the Sun newspaper of Friday, 2 April 2010 I came across this story:

Dr M’s ex-aide starts jail term for contempt

KUALA LUMPUR: Matthias Chang, former political secretary of ex-premier Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, was sent to prison after he refused to pay a RM20,000 fine for contempt of court.

Chang was served the committal order by the High Court before he was taken to Kajang prison.

The lawyer was cited for contempt of court on March 25 when he failed to apologise to the court during cross-examination in his defamation suit against American Express (Malaysia).

The committal order stated: “At about 2.30pm to day (March 25) … when the court refused your request to address the court as a witness, you lost your cool and walked out of the witness box and thereafter left the court during the proceedings. Your conduct is a contempt in the face of the court by virtue of Order 52 (1A) of the Rules of the High Court.”
Continue reading “Matthias Chang: Martyr without a cause?”

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Just commission public opinion poll and Najib will know whether majority of Malaysians buy his claim that Anwar’s Sodomy 2 trial is “a personal, not political trial”

In rejecting my call for an emergency meeting of Parliament on Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy2 trial, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak does protest too much.

Najib said the Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy2 trial does not warrant a special sitting of Parliament as it is a private matter between two individuals, that it does not involve government policy and not a matter of national interest.

I challenge Najib to commission a public opinion poll and the Prime Minister will know whether the majority of Malaysians buy his claim that the Anwar Sodomy2 trial is “a personal, not political trial”.

Extend the opinion poll to all keen observers of Malaysian affairs world-wide and there can be no doubt that the overwhelming majority of opinion – whether national or international – will be of the view that the Anwar Sodomy2 trial is a political, not personal, trial!

Najib can entrust the Minister for KPI and 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon with the responsibility to commission such national and international opinion polls, and I have no doubt of their outcomes.
Continue reading “Just commission public opinion poll and Najib will know whether majority of Malaysians buy his claim that Anwar’s Sodomy 2 trial is “a personal, not political trial””

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Justice is done in by the Federal Court

By Martin Jalleh
 
Once again justice is shamelessly sacrificed on the altar of political expediency by judicial shenanigans of the highest court in Bolehland. It is a sad day indeed to see how five “blind” men of supposed legal stature strove so hard not to see and sense what was staring at them in the Federal and Perak constitutions.
 
The judiciary – the very portal of justice continues to be reduced to a convenient playground for the ruling elite to legitimize their power grab, persecute their opponents and promote their political agenda, through the perversion of the rule of law by certain court jesters.

The Federal and Perak Constitutions are dead, done in by those who decided to disregard, desecrate and discard constitutional provisions to treat the doctrine of separation of powers with deference. They are rigorously and rightly interpreted only when it best suits Umno.
 
In stark comparison to the courageous, cogent and convincing judgment of High Court judge Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim, the cowed five-member bench caved in and conveniently decided to take the cue from the powers that be.
 
It comes as no surprise that their “collective written judgement is apparently riddled with contradictions”.The five judges surely qualify for retired Justice N H Chan’s classic category of “recalcitrant” and “Humpty Dumpty” judges in the Perak conundrum.
  Continue reading “Justice is done in by the Federal Court”

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Why the prosecution of Anwar Ibrahim matters to the West

The Washington Post

FEB 7 – In the past two years, Malaysia, which has been a one-party state since it gained independence in 1957, has made remarkable strides toward becoming a democracy. That it has done so is mostly due to the efforts and political talent of one man – Anwar Ibrahim.

So the fact that Anwar went on criminal trial last week should deeply concern the democratic world. The outcome could determine whether one of Asia’s most economically successful countries preserves its stability and embraces long-overdue reforms.

A former deputy prime minister in the ruling party, Anwar was deposed and jailed in 1998 by former Malaysian strongman Mahathir Mohamad.

A manifestly unfair trial followed in which Anwar was convicted of homosexual sodomy, which shamefully remains a crime in Malaysia.

Six years later, the conviction was overturned by a court, and Anwar resumed his political career – this time as an open champion of democracy in Malaysia and other Muslim countries.
Continue reading “Why the prosecution of Anwar Ibrahim matters to the West”

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Malaysia itself, not the opposition leader, is in the dock

Anwar’s Second Sodomy Trial | The Wall Street Journal
Malaysia itself, not the opposition leader, is in the dock.

More than a decade after he was beaten, tried and jailed, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will once again face a Kuala Lumpur court today on charges of sodomy. The accusations are highly dubious and raise a serious question: Is this moderate Muslim democracy becoming a nation with no real rule of law?

The circumstances surrounding Mr. Anwar’s prosecution are suspiciously familiar to most Malaysians. In 1998, he was arrested as he was mounting serious arguments against the increasingly erratic government of United Malays National Organization chief Mahathir Mohamed. On a nearby page, Mr. Anwar’s former aide Munawar Anees describes being tortured and forced to confess to sodomy, a criminal offense in Malaysia. Mr. Anwar was convicted of sodomy and abuse of power and served six years in jail before the sodomy ruling was overturned in 2004. He was allowed to run for political office again in 2008, which he did, in earnest.

Mr. Anwar was arrested again in July 2008, a day after participating in his first nationally televised debate in more than a decade—an event that showcased his political skills and highlighted the growing momentum behind his three-party opposition coalition. He was accused of sodomy with a 23-year-old former aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan. Mr. Saiful was taken into protective police custody after he made his allegation and has since rarely been seen in public. The government denies any political motivation for the charges. Mr. Saiful himself has not been charged.

As in 1998, the evidence in this case is thin at best. The police made a show of arresting Mr. Anwar, put him in jail for a night, and forced him to undergo a humiliating medical “examination.” The government then passed a bill in parliament to give the police expanded powers to collect DNA in criminal cases. Mr. Anwar’s lawyers claim they have a hospital report that shows no sodomy occurred.
Continue reading “Malaysia itself, not the opposition leader, is in the dock”

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A commentary on Nazri’s offer of a way out

By N.H. Chan
Malaysian Insider
Jan 20 2010

This is what the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said (The Star, Saturday, Jan 16, 2010). Nazri, who was voicing his personal opinion over the “Allah” issue, noted that Sabahans and Sarawakians could still conduct Mass and give sermons in Bahasa Malaysia but should not use the word “Allah” while in the peninsula.

“It is all right to hold Mass in Bahasa Malaysia but do not use the word ‘Allah’. They must use Tuhan as in the national language,” he said in an interview.
Although he agreed that the word “Allah” had been long used in Christianity way before Islam existed, Nazri said: “That’s why I say it is all right in Sabah and Sarawak but culturally, you cannot apply it in a place where Allah has always been Islam’s God.”

But where is it said anywhere – certainly it is not in the Koran – that Christians cannot apply Allah in a place where Allah has always been Islam’s God. Continue reading “A commentary on Nazri’s offer of a way out”

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AG Gani Patail should initiate contempt proceedings against Nazri while MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/ Sarawak BN and other Umno Ministers should repudiate Nazri’s stand in Cabinet tomorrow that it is too late for inter-religious dialogue to resolve the “Allah” controversy

I was completely astounded and outraged by de factor Law Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’ statement yesterday that it is too late for dialogue to resolve the “Allah” controversy, which had sparked a spate of arson and vandalism against churches, surau and a Sikh temple since the beginning of the year.

Nazri reiterated that it was not the fault of the government but that of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, Kuala Lumpur, Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam who had brought the matter to court.

If anybody is to be blamed for the Herald litigation, it is the government which had allowed the Home Ministry to violate two decades of religious equilibrium on the issue with its ban in 2007 on the use of the word “Allah” in the Catholic weekly, forcing on the Roman Catholic church the final remedy and recourse of the courts.

But it is what Nazri said about the Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan and her judgment which completely floored rational and reasonable Malaysians, as no Law Minister or a de facto one had done more than Nazri to attack the independence, impartiality, integrity and professionalism of a judge when his first task should be Continue reading “AG Gani Patail should initiate contempt proceedings against Nazri while MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/ Sarawak BN and other Umno Ministers should repudiate Nazri’s stand in Cabinet tomorrow that it is too late for inter-religious dialogue to resolve the “Allah” controversy”

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All Cabinet Ministers should study the 57-page judgment of KL High Court judge Lau Bee Lan to decide whether Home Ministry should withdraw the appeal on the “Allah” controversy and focus instead on inter-religious dialogue to resolve the issue

The Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should not be so hasty and even trigger-happy to declare that the government will not withdraw its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment allowing the Catholic Church to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its newspapers, Herald.

By doing so, Muhyiddin is unfairly and undemocratically denying the rights of Cabinet Ministers from considering whether the Home Ministry should withdraw its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment on the “Allah” controversy to demonstrate the government’s seriousness and commitment to resolve the issue through inter-religious dialogue.

I had in Ipoh yesterday made the proposal that the government withdraw the appeal and to focus on resolving the controversy through inter-religious dialogue, as certain Umno Ministers and leaders had given the impression that when they speak about inter-religious dialogue, they were not talking about an open, full and free discussion and inter-reaction among the different religions to reach a lasting and satisfactory solution but using the inter-religious dialogue to achieve a pre-determined outcome – in the case of the “Allah” controversy, to achieve the same objective as the 2007 Home Ministry ban on the Catholic weekly Herald from using the word “Allah”.
Continue reading “All Cabinet Ministers should study the 57-page judgment of KL High Court judge Lau Bee Lan to decide whether Home Ministry should withdraw the appeal on the “Allah” controversy and focus instead on inter-religious dialogue to resolve the issue”