May 11, 2012
People
attend a Suhakam inquiry on the July 11, 2011 Bersih 2.0 rally. The Bar
Council today insisted the rights commission should be the authority to
probe the April 28 protest. — File pic
Council president Lim Chee Wee said that in Hanif’s two reported
remarks on Bersih 3.0, the former police chief had clearly shown his
opposition to the April 28 rally by calling its participants communist
sympathisers and agreeing with claims that it was held to overthrow the
present government.
“Under these circumstances, given his views, I do not think it would
be suitable for him to be a member of the panel. It would certainly
disqualify him,” Lim told a press conference after the Bar’s
extraordinary general meeting (EGM) this evening.
He added that the six-member panel, recently formed by the government
to probe allegations of violence during Bersih 3.0, lacks the legal
framework ordinarily available to bodies such as the Malaysian Human
Rights Commission (Suhakam ) and that this would nullify the legitimacy
of any of its findings.
“It does not have legal immunity for itself or for witnesses participating in the proceedings.
“By immunity, I mean immunity against defamation and against self-incrimination,” he explained.
Further to this, Lim asserted that the panel also lacks the legal
power to subpoena witnesses and to requisition documents during its
inquiry.
“Under these constraints, the panel would be of limited utility,” he said.
Lim added that the Bar Council does not intend to participate in the
panel’s probe, pointing out that such inquiries should be conducted by
Suhakam instead.
“It would lend greater weight if they invited one of the United
Nation’s Special Rapporteurs for assembly (as a panel member),” he
added.
Earlier today, Bersih similarly dismissed the panel, saying the team
led by Hanif would be biased and “nothing more than a glorified task
force.”
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had pledged last week that
“credible, experienced and respectable” individuals would investigate
the violence during Bersih’s third rally for free and fair elections
that descended into chaos after police clashed with protestors.
But Bersih pointed out in a press statement today that “no indication
has been given by the government as to what law will regulate the
establishment and functioning of this panel.”
Najib’s choice of the former Inspector-General of Police to head the
panel came under immediate fire from the opposition and calls are
growing for Hanif, who led the police for two decades since 1974, to
recuse himself.
Chaos reigned on the streets of Kuala Lumpur for over four hours
after 3pm on April 28 when police fired tear gas and water cannons and
chased protesters down the streets to disperse what had initially been a
peaceful protest calling for free and fair elections.
The Malaysian Bar had this evening approved a resolution condemning
the police for using “excessive” and “indiscriminate” force to disperse
Bersih 3.0 protesters on April 28, despite objections raised by a
minority group of lawyers during today’s EGM.
The resolution, passed by way of voting this evening, also demands
apologies from the home minister and the IGP to the public and members
of the media over the conduct of the police during the rally.
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