The assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto shortly after she held a political rally showed why Malaysia was against street demonstrations, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar. [Thestar]
It’s amazing how Syed Hamid managed to use Benazir’s assassination to condemn street demo… what a loser.
The turmoil in Pakistan is caused by corruption, dictatorship, suppression of freedom, improper governance etc. Street demonstration would come at the very bottom of the list if it’s of any relevance at all.
If Malaysia need to worry about becoming the next Pakistan… what the government need to do is to fight corruption, communicate with common citizens, ensure a fair election, and allow more freedom of speech.
If the government has done their job properly… people would not need to go to the streets at all; we won’t have the reasons to do so.
Gerakan has initiated disciplinary action against its Youth vice-chief S. Paranjothy over his racially sensitive remarks against Umno.
Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said Sunday (Dec 23) the party viewed the matter seriously and that the case has been referred to the Disciplinary Committee for a decision on the action to be taken before it was to be brought to the party’s Central Working Committee (CWC). [Bernama]
Paranjothy is alleged to have issued a press statement to Malaysiakini claiming that he was not happy with Umno and the way Indians in the country were being treated. Excerpt from Malaysiakini…
In an audacious move, a notable Gerakan politician has taken Barisan Nasional coalition leader Umno to task for inciting racial sentiments among Malays to gain political mileage.
“They incite racial sentiments among their community in a petty attempt to further their political career,” Gerakan Youth vice-chief S Paranjothy alleged today (Dec 21).
Such attempts, he said, include taking potshots at other BN component parties which draw their support from non-Malay communities.
“Umno leaders are very found of picking on component parties and use them as their punching bag or stepping-stone to gain popularity in their community,” Paranjothy said in a hard-hitting four-page statement entitled ‘Discrimination from Womb to Tomb’.
He singled out Umno Youth Chief Hishammuddin Hussien’s keris waving and his deputy Khairy Jamaluddin’s claim that non-Malays would take advantage of a weak Umno leadership, as prime examples of racial posturing.
He also cited Khairy’s speech at the Umno general assembly last month, during which he blamed newspaper vendors for not wanting to work on Deepavali day. He made a pointed reference to the fact that the sector is predominated by Indian Malaysians.
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The Sessions Court here today acquitted and discharged 31 people charged with attempting to murder a police officer during an illegal assembly organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) in front of the Sri Subramaniar temple in Batu Caves, near here, on Nov 25.
Judge Nursinah Adzmi made the decision after allowing the application by Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to withdraw the charges against them. [Bernama]
This have to be one of the biggest Malaysia jokes in 2007… it was a murder attempt charge, not chicken stealing. The AG should not have press the charges at the first place if he didn’t have enough evidence to prove the case… and if he does have solid evidence to prove it, they shouldn’t withdraw it at all.
I am not a law expert, but I know simple enough that our law should not be treated as a game… it’s controversial to press the charge, but it’s even worse to drop the case rather easily. The whole thing is just stupid.
Well, at least it’s good news for these 31 people… I hope that they are really innocent and not being let off for political reasons.
Former Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor has been appointed chairman of the Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the video clip controversy featuring a senior lawyer purportedly brokering judicial appointments over the telephone.
Five other members of the commission are former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Amar Steve Shim Lip Kiong, former Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mahadev Shankar, former Solicitor-General Puan Sri Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh, Academician-Historian Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Khoo Kay Kim and Datuk Abdullah Sani Ab Hamid (as commission secretary).
I don’t have enough knowledge to justify if these people are suitable candidates to investigate the matter, and I am not sure if the royal panel could produce anything more meaningful than the earlier 3-men panel.
Regardless of the result, I doubt that the findings could change the current situation where our judiciary system is being controlled (or at least influenced) by our BN lead government.
Even if the tape is found genuine, the people that will be penalized would probably be Lingam and Fairuz while the rest of the VIPs that are involved would keep hidden behind the curtain and not being punished.
The tape might help raise some public awareness that our country administration is not as clean as the government is trying to portray… perhaps it is the only meaningful purpose that it could serve in the end.
Meanwhile, Anwar Ibrahim has released the full version of the video…
There are so many arrest on illegal assembly lately… so many that I have lost count on it. Most of the arrests are unnecessary; and how the arrests were carried out is questionable as well.
Below is a video on PKR’s information chief Tian Chua being arrested near the Parliament House. He had probably resisted the arrest… but does he deserved the punch after he was apprehended? I wonder…
You must have read about Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Musa Hassan’s allegation by now, that the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) is trying to garner support from terrorist groups… i.e. Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the RSS, a militant organisation in India (as said by Mohamed Nazri Aziz).
Thing is… if the police or government has any proof about the allegation, what are they waiting now? Go ahead and put the Hindraf leaders into lockup, charged them with whatever act they could think of and declare an official war on Hindraf. The only reason the government and police are not doing so is because the terrorist-link allegation is simply stupid words without solid backing.
What the IGP said is serious accusation… it could cause serious damage to the peacefulness of the country and the social harmony between races. He shouldn’t voice about it without having facts and proofs about it… it caused unnecessary tension and served no good purpose for the general public.
Regardless, I doubt any action would be taken against Musa Hassan if it is a false alarm in the end. They would come out with million of reasons that the IGP was just showing his concern, that they haven’t found any proof yet but it’s true, that their words are MISINTEPRETED… and Musa walks away.
Acting Chief Justice Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad has been confirmed to take over the top judicial post. Abdul Hamid has been the acting CJ since the retirement of Ahmad Fairuz in early October.
What concerned some people though… is the promotion of Umno-man Zaki Tun Azmi to take over Abdul Hamid as Court of Appeal president, which makes Zaki the #2 top judge in Malaysia and possibly the next Chief Justice.
Zaki Azmi is Umno’s former top legal adviser. He was controversially appointed as a Federal Court judge in Sept 2007 as the first ever person to be elevated directly to the highest court without having served as a judge in the lower courts.
Now here he is, the Court of Appeal president. The appointment is an indication that there were no other suitable candidates in terms of seniority and service in the judiciary, or perhaps a more logical explanation… that Umno led government is appointing their own man in top judiciary positions. It’s not a good sign either way.
Malaysian Bar has expressed their surprise with Zaki’s appointment, but trusted that “these concerns will be dispelled by a display of integrity and exemplary performance on the Bench by Zaki.” [Malaysianbar]
I can’t share the same optimism though. While the society is still having doubts over our judiciary system following the Lingam tape scandal, the Zaki Azmi’s amazing promotion is likely to further dent the reputation our judiciary independence.
Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) supporters were charged with attempted murder and causing damage to public property during the mass rally in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25. [Malaysiakini]
No sympathy from me. I know some people will argue that the police were using tear gases, water cannons and some violent acts as well, but two wrongs don’t make one right… it doesn’t mean that it’s ok to throw bricks and iron pipes at the police when the cops were using force.
Yes, the charges might be biased and discriminative. It’s uncommon for Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail to personally handle the case when he is ignoring some other more pressing cases (Altantuya’s murder for example)… and besides that, I can’t stop wondering what has happened to the officer that fired 4 shots to the crowd at Batu Buruk fracas.
Still, it doesn’t mean that it is wrong to charge the Hindraf supporters. If there is anything to concern about… it’s to make sure that the prosecutors are not framing the accused but have solid proof to press the charges, and that the trial is handle fair and square with proper transparency.