Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

[JOINT STATEMENT]

JUDICIARY MUST RIGHT THE WRONGS IN POLITICAL-MOTIVATED PROSECUTION AGAINST ANWAR IBRAHIM

The independence of the highest court of the land – the Federal Court – will once again be tested in the judgment of the court on the sodomy charge against opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, for the second time on 28 and 29 October 2014. The Federal Court must right the wrongs and deliver justice if its credibility and reputation in the eyes of the public is to be maintained.

The Court of Appeal’s decision on 7 March 2014 to overturn the High Court decision to acquit Anwar of sodomy offence under Section 377 of the Penal Code was extremely disappointing and exasperating, marking a new low for Malaysia’s justice system. The appellate court found Anwar guilty of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan on 26 June 2008 and sentenced Anwar to five years’ imprisonment.

Anwar’s conviction has been stayed during his appeal to the Federal Court, but if convicted he will serve a total of 5 years jail time, effectively losing his Permatang Pauh Parliamentary seat and position as the parliamentary opposition leader, and hence forth ending his political career.

The verdict is not just about Anwar’s political ambition but the manner in which the entire trial was conducted, broke every known fair trial standards governed by law and it exemplifies the frailty of our criminal justice system.

The Court of Appeal’s trial was brought forward abruptly and conducted in a hasty manner to have Anwar convicted and sentenced in mere two days, and subsequently disqualifying Anwar from the Kajang by-election held on 23 March 2014. Such uncommon proceeding evidently showed that this was a politically motivated prosecution to eliminate one of the most influential opposition leader in the country.

Anwar and his legal team have always maintained that the charges were trumped up & fabricated. During the trial, serious questions that impinged on fair trial standards were raised including – the complainant’s meeting with the Prime Minister and senior officials before the alleged incident; tampering of evidence including planting of DNA evidence, medical report of the complainant that showed no penetration etc.

In addition, the Federal Court has rejected Anwar’s motion to disqualify Muhammad Shafee Abdullah from the prosecution team and held that Shafee, a lawyer closely related to UMNO, was a ‘fit and proper person’ to lead the prosecution, despite apparent unsuitability and conflict of interest.

The ruling government’s unrelenting intimidation campaign against Anwar is also extended beyond the sodomy case. Anwar’s key lawyer, N. Surendran was charged under the Sedition act 1948 twice for mere criticism of the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the sodomy case in September 2014. A month after Surendran’s charges, Anwar was again called for an investigation under sedition for an alleged seditious comment made on 25 March 2011.

The Court of Appeal’s decision raised profound question on the existence of separation of powers between the executive and judicial. The judiciary as the last bastion in checking the abuses of power by the executive, must rise to the occasion in ending injustices in the case of Anwar Ibrahim and put a stop to the abuses of state machinery for political persecution.

Endorsed by,

1. Association of Women Lawyers
2. Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC)
3. Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4)
4. Civil Right committee of KLSCAH
5. Empower
6. Himpunan Hijau
7. Kelab Bangsa Utama
8. Komas
9. Lawyers for Liberty
10. Malaysia Youth and Students’ Democratic Movement
11. Malaysian Physicians for Social Responsibility
12. Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
13. Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy
14. Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO)
15. Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)


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Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

Suaram calls on the immigration department to allow environmentalist Natalie Lowrey to be let into the country. She has done nothing wrong but merely been concerned with the radioactive hazards from Lynas plant that will cause great health risk to the community Living in Kuantan. If the Malaysian government cares about the health of fellow citizens in Kuantan, the government should not block Natalie from coming in.


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Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT (8 July 2014)

BERSIH 2.0, SUARAM reiterate call for IPCMC in wake of violence to peaceful protesters

The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0) and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) are shocked at the police’s violent response to the Himpunan Hijau protesters at the Lynas plant in Kuantan on 22 June 2014.

This incident raises yet again the question whether recommendations for the police by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) on the standard operating procedure (SOP) for public demonstrations will ever be implemented. Recent rallies, especially the Anti-GST May Day protest, had given us hope that the police were capable of changing and stepping up to their role as facilitators to the democratic process.

However, that appeared to have been false hope. The police are continuing to beat up protesters – but only those who are against the ruling party’s policies – and are now even charging them under provisions in the Penal Code that are made out to be demonstration-related offences, rather than use the more recent, demonstration-specific, Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012.

At Lynas, according to the protesters, plainclothes police personnel set upon those who could not manage to disperse immediately after the warning was issued. Three were beaten up badly – one so brutally that he had to be admitted to the ICU (and was later diagnosed as sustaining cerebral concussion), and two even after they were handcuffed.

Next, a few hours after 16 protesters were arrested and taken to the Kuantan police headquarters, police allegedly did nothing when some 15 thugs attacked the vigilers outside; worse, they closed their doors to those being attacked, including a pregnant woman.

Not a single thug was arrested then despite it all happening under the noses of the police. Instead, 16 protesters were arrested in situ, with 15 of them scheduled to be charged for offences in the Penal Code at the Kuantan Court on 8 July 2014. Police only arrested some of the thugs – the details were not reported – after reports were lodged against them.

BERSIH 2.0 and SUARAM call for all charges against the 15 to be dropped immediately.

We also expect the police to reveal the details of their investigation into the thugs and to charge them under the appropriate Penal Code provisions for committing bodily hurt and creating a ruckus.

And we want the same action to be taken on the police personnel who beat up the protesters, especially those who continued beating the handcuffed protesters.

Going to the core of the matter, we reiterate the public demand for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). The government cannot run from this forever, especially after the latest sorry episode that points to the failure of its ‘replacement’, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) in upholding police professionalism.

Meanwhile, the police must revisit the SUHAKAM recommendations on the SOP for public assemblies and give a set timeline to follow through, or there will be more such incidents that tarnish the image of the police.

To the legislators, our call is to review the legal framework. The provisions in the Penal Code pertaining to the right to assemble and the PAA must be amended to ensure that they adhere to the constitutional right to freedom of assembly.

Issued by BERSIH 2.0 and SUARAM

Maria Chin Abdullah
Chairperson,
BERSIH 2.0

Yap Swee Seng
Executive Editor,
Suaram


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Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

ADUAN KE SUHAKAM: PENDEDAHAN KEGANASAN POLIS SEMASA HIMPUNAN HIJAU 622

Pada 22 Jun 2014, semasa protes “Himpunan Hijau 622” di Gebeng, Kuantan untuk membantah kilang Lynas, pihak polis telah bertindak ganas terhadap para peserta perhimpunan semasa membuat tangkapan.

Maka, penduduk tempatan bersama mangsa-mangsa keganasan polis berserta pemimpin-pemimpin Himpunan Hijau, ADUN kawasan Semambu dan pengarah Suaram akan hadir ke Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia (SUHAKAM) esok untuk membuat aduan dan mendedahkan keganasan polis.

Berikut adalah butir-butir mengenai program tersebut:

Tarikh: 1 Julai 2014 (Selasa)
Masa: 3 petang
Tempat: Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia (SUHAKAM), 13th Floor, Menara TH Perdana, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur

Kami amat berharap pihak media akan hadir dan membuat liputan mengenai keganasan dan salahguna kuasa polis terhadap rakyat biasa.


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