Archive for May 13th, 2009
Can Malaysians expect justice in cases involving top Umno leaders when there is an Umno Chief Justice, Tan Sri Zaki Azmi?
The question bugging Malaysians in the past 20 months have finally come to the very fore – whether Malaysians can expect justice in cases involving top Umno leaders when the Chief Justice, Tan Sri Zaki Azmi had been a long-time Umno lawyer and stalwart?
When Zaki was appointed directly as Federal Court judge in September 2007, it is open secret that he was headed for what turned out to be a quintuple jump as Chief Justice in a matter of 13 months.
Both inside and outside Parliament, the propriety of Zaki’s appointment as Chief Justice and how it could help in restoring national and international confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary was raised – with no attempt by the Prime Minister of-the-day to give proper and acceptable answers.
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Zambry (self-claimed 3-in-1 Mandela, Gandhi, King) returns to SUK as a doubly illegitimate Perak MB
Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir (self-claimed 3-in-1 Mandela, Gandhi, King) returns to the Mentri Besar’s office in SUK (State Secretariat) Perak this morning as a doubly illegitimate Perak Mentri Besar.
When Zambry first entered the Perak Mentri Besar’s office on Feb. 6, 2009, he was just illegitimate Mentri Besar as it was the result of an unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab based on three “political frogs” who have since disappeared from public view and dared not return to their constituency to meet their voters.
When Zambry re-entered the SUK today, he had become doubly illegitimate Mentri Besar as a result of the landmark Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment that there was never a vacancy for him to become a lawful and legitimate MB.
Zambry knew that since Monday, he had become doubly illegitimate as pretender Mentri Besar after the judgment by Justice Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim declaring Datuk Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin as the lawful Mentri Besar.
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Asian public intellectuals condemn Wong Chin Huat’s detention
Posted by Kit in Human Rights on Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Joint statement issued by a group of concerned public intellectuals. The people who endorsed the statement are either past or current recipients of the Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship, given by the Nippon Foundation in Tokyo, Japan.
We, the Asian Public Intellectual (API) fellows, view with grave alarm and concern the recent arrest of a fellow intellectual, Mr. Wong Chin Huat under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act. We believe his detention was related to his call, on behalf of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih), to all Malaysians to wear black on Thursday the 7 May 2009, as a mark of protest against the illegal and unconstitutional usurpation of power by the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Perak.
This action by the authorities, in our opinion, was totally unwarranted and unjust. Chin Huat had done nothing wrong, beyond exercising his right as a citizen to engage in a social movement that is committed to the conduct of clean, free and fair elections. His arrest and detention are an attack by the Government against the fundamental and inalienable right of a citizen, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution. The recent ruling by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur simply proves and confirms that Chin Huat was taking a constitutionally right decision and action.
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Kit Siang Tweets
Kit Siang Tweets
He uses the Internet tool to update on Perak’s political turmoil
By JOSEPH KAOS JR | Malay Mail | 13 May 2009
[email protected]
TECHNOLOGY has made it possible for hundreds of people to experience the Perak political turmoil through the lenses of Lim Kit Siang.
Using the increasingly popular Internet tool Twitter, the veteran politician has been feeding his “followers” with minute-by-minute updates on the Perak crisis.
Although the latest happenings can be gathered from online news websites, many turn to Twitter instead as Lim’s updates are posted as soon as it happens. This is possible with the help of the handphone web services.
“Entering the Menteri Besar’s office now,” said one of his Twitter updates, or Tweets. “MB’s office empty except some stationery,” revealed another.
Considering that all sorts of changes occur in Perak before anyone can say Jack Robinson, people will be eager to have the information as soon as possible.
The 68-year-old Lim defies the stereotype that most older people are rather clueless about embracing technology. Besides being among the first few politicians to set up a blog site, Lim also has a Facebook account.
To date, Lim has 505 Twitter followers.
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Return of Mahathirism – footage of Perak Speaker dragged out of Assembly on May 7 Day of Infamy banned from being aired on television stations
Posted by Kit in Media, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Malaysiakini today reported that footage of Perak Speaker V. Sivakumar being bodily dragged out, in Speaker robes and Speaker chair, from the Perak State Assembly by police officers and goons on May 7 Day of Infamy has been banned from being aired on television stations.
Malaysiakini reported that a TV station has video footage of the “enduring image” of the May 7 Day of Infamy – the dramatic moment when the Perak Speaker, in his robes and chair, was physically removed from the Assembly – but Malaysians did not get to see it on the orders of its owner, Media Prima.
Media Prima, which is believed to be linked to ruling party Umno, controls the country’s four free-to-air private TV stations – TV3, NTV7, TV8 and TV9.
According to a source who requested anonymity, the staff were given ‘directives’ from senior managers on the evening of May 7 not to screen the controversial footage despite one of its stations had captured the whole incident on tape. Read the rest of this entry »
The Texture Of Justice
By Malik Imtiaz
MAY 12 – It was to be expected. As news of the decision of the High Court in the matter of Nizar v Zambry filtered out, many were quick to give thanks and express encouragement for what they perceived as a courageous judgment.
Some even expressed the hope that the judiciary was recovering its independence.
The judgment did, after all, run counter to the entrenched positions of the Prime Minister, who was the Perak Umno liaison chief at the time power was seized in the state, the Barisan Nasional leadership and the Federal Government they have constituted, and His Royal Highness the Sultan of Perak.
As has been the case when other seemingly “courageous” or “independent” judgments were handed down by the courts had led to such expressions of encouragement, there were those who made the point that the judiciary was praised only when it gave decisions against Umno or the Barisan, and the governments they constitute.
They ask why it is the courts are “kangaroo courts” when they decide in favour of the Barisan but not when they hand down judgments against it.
In so asking, they suggest that criticism against the Judiciary and the Federal Government in this regard is unfair and self-serving as the judicial process is capable of producing judgments that run either way. To them, the good must be taken with the bad.
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