An outraged Malaysia Bar today demanded the resignation of both the inspector-general of police and the home minister following the arrest of five lawyers on May 7
The five lawyers were arrested for alleged illegal assembly after attempting to provide legal assistance to a group of individuals who nabbed during a candlelight vigil in support of Bersih activist Wong Chin Huat, who himself was detained under the Sedition Act.
All of them were released after being held overnight in the police lock-up, a move which initiated a strong rebuke from the lawyers' fraternity.
Some 200 lawyers staged a protest at the Kuala Lumpur court complex the next day over the "gross abuse of police power".
And to translate their anger into action, the lawyers today held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on the matter.
Attended by more than 1,400 lawyers, in addition to their call for IGP Musa Hassan and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to resign, the lawyers have also agreed to file a civil suit on the arrest of the five lawyers.
The suit will be filed against the IGP, the Brickfields police chief, the investigating officer and the government.
They will also be submitting a memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Chief Justice Zaki Azmi and the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) on the abuse of powers by the police.
The five arrested lawyers were Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Syuhaini Safwan, Puspawati Rosman, Ravinder Singh and Murnie Hidayah Anuar (left).
They were however released on May 8 together with Wong and the protesters at Brickfields police station.
Seeking immediate meeting with PM
Speaking to journalists after the EGM, Bar Council chairperson Ragunath Kesavan said the Bar will also be seeking an immediate meeting with the prime minister to handover a memorandum on the breakdown of rule of law by the police.
In addition, he said the meeting today also agreed for the council to lodge a complain with Suhakam to conduct an inquiry in the manner of the police have acted against the lawyers.
"We will also be writing to the chief justice asking for his intervention as lawyers are officers of courts as well," he said, adding that the matter will be raised in Parliament by lawyers who are also MPs.
"We intend to ensure that the adherence of rule of law is by all quarters, especially the police... when we talk about instilling public confidence, they (the police) must show that they abide to the rule of law and provisions in the constitution," said Ragunath.
One of the most important aspects of instilling public confidence on the police force would be calling for the resignation of the IGP and the home minister.
"We had issued a statement asking for apology from the police but his (Home Minister Hishammuddin) response was, 'lawyers are not above the law'. The issue is the police should be subjected to this law as well," said Ragunath.
He stressed that what the home minister had said was "not a reply, not a solution and not what we want to hear".
"The police are not above the law. We have federal constitution and we respect the rule of law," he said.
Ragunath further expressed disappointment with the lack of responsibility of the home minister and the IGP in handling the affair.
"We had given ample opportunity for them to say that they would at least conduct an investigation or they would look into law provisions... it would have been good but that did not come about.
"But what the minister had said implied that we (the arrested lawyers) had broken the law by being in front of the police station, which is not true," stressed Ragunath.
Mechanism of accountability is necessary
Following the lawyers' arrest, Ragunath said that mechanisms to hold the police accountable are necessary.
"It must be remembered that the police are the law enforcement agency and it commands far more physical power than any public service agency.
Ragunath said denying access of accused persons to lawyers was a violation of human rights.
He also referred to a Malaysiakini video clip that showed the arrested lawyers were not part of the assembly.
"They arrived at the police station after the 14 persons were arrested and they came there acting as lawyers to come and seek access to the suspects under Section 28A (4) under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC)," he said.
Nevertheless, said Ragunath, police had used their discretion under Section 28A (8) of the CPC to deny legal access to those arrested.
However, he argued that the provision should only be used "if there is something related to concealment of evidence or intimidation of a witness".
"Not in such a situation (like this) where the principal actors are police officers and there are no evidence which needs to be concealed and can never be fabricated.
"There are no accomplices as well because the people who gathered were all arrested, so why no access to lawyers?" he asked.
In the wake of the arrests, Ragunath said that the council will be setting up a committee to look into how lawyers should deal with such incidences.
The Malaysian Bar represents some 13,000 lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia.
Malaysiakini
16/05/09
The five lawyers were arrested for alleged illegal assembly after attempting to provide legal assistance to a group of individuals who nabbed during a candlelight vigil in support of Bersih activist Wong Chin Huat, who himself was detained under the Sedition Act.
All of them were released after being held overnight in the police lock-up, a move which initiated a strong rebuke from the lawyers' fraternity.
Some 200 lawyers staged a protest at the Kuala Lumpur court complex the next day over the "gross abuse of police power".
And to translate their anger into action, the lawyers today held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on the matter.
Attended by more than 1,400 lawyers, in addition to their call for IGP Musa Hassan and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to resign, the lawyers have also agreed to file a civil suit on the arrest of the five lawyers.
The suit will be filed against the IGP, the Brickfields police chief, the investigating officer and the government.
They will also be submitting a memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Chief Justice Zaki Azmi and the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) on the abuse of powers by the police.
The five arrested lawyers were Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Syuhaini Safwan, Puspawati Rosman, Ravinder Singh and Murnie Hidayah Anuar (left).
They were however released on May 8 together with Wong and the protesters at Brickfields police station.
Seeking immediate meeting with PM
Speaking to journalists after the EGM, Bar Council chairperson Ragunath Kesavan said the Bar will also be seeking an immediate meeting with the prime minister to handover a memorandum on the breakdown of rule of law by the police.
In addition, he said the meeting today also agreed for the council to lodge a complain with Suhakam to conduct an inquiry in the manner of the police have acted against the lawyers.
"We will also be writing to the chief justice asking for his intervention as lawyers are officers of courts as well," he said, adding that the matter will be raised in Parliament by lawyers who are also MPs.
"We intend to ensure that the adherence of rule of law is by all quarters, especially the police... when we talk about instilling public confidence, they (the police) must show that they abide to the rule of law and provisions in the constitution," said Ragunath.
One of the most important aspects of instilling public confidence on the police force would be calling for the resignation of the IGP and the home minister.
"We had issued a statement asking for apology from the police but his (Home Minister Hishammuddin) response was, 'lawyers are not above the law'. The issue is the police should be subjected to this law as well," said Ragunath.
He stressed that what the home minister had said was "not a reply, not a solution and not what we want to hear".
"The police are not above the law. We have federal constitution and we respect the rule of law," he said.
Ragunath further expressed disappointment with the lack of responsibility of the home minister and the IGP in handling the affair.
"We had given ample opportunity for them to say that they would at least conduct an investigation or they would look into law provisions... it would have been good but that did not come about.
"But what the minister had said implied that we (the arrested lawyers) had broken the law by being in front of the police station, which is not true," stressed Ragunath.
Mechanism of accountability is necessary
Following the lawyers' arrest, Ragunath said that mechanisms to hold the police accountable are necessary.
"It must be remembered that the police are the law enforcement agency and it commands far more physical power than any public service agency.
Ragunath said denying access of accused persons to lawyers was a violation of human rights.
He also referred to a Malaysiakini video clip that showed the arrested lawyers were not part of the assembly.
"They arrived at the police station after the 14 persons were arrested and they came there acting as lawyers to come and seek access to the suspects under Section 28A (4) under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC)," he said.
Nevertheless, said Ragunath, police had used their discretion under Section 28A (8) of the CPC to deny legal access to those arrested.
However, he argued that the provision should only be used "if there is something related to concealment of evidence or intimidation of a witness".
"Not in such a situation (like this) where the principal actors are police officers and there are no evidence which needs to be concealed and can never be fabricated.
"There are no accomplices as well because the people who gathered were all arrested, so why no access to lawyers?" he asked.
In the wake of the arrests, Ragunath said that the council will be setting up a committee to look into how lawyers should deal with such incidences.
The Malaysian Bar represents some 13,000 lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia.
Malaysiakini
16/05/09
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