You are currently browsing the daily archive for November 4th, 2008.
I read with horror and disbelief the reports on the RM83 million Apcet II suit.
Witnesses called by the plaintiffs have revealed the dark side of our Malaysian Home Ministry. The Home Ministry, which is supposed to ensure a safe and peaceful place for Malaysians is instead the culprit, causing fear and disruption to people’s lives. You will see that things can be fixed in a manner familiar to gangsters, at the order of someone. There will be ‘wayang kulit’ of arrests, a small fine and all is fine. The perpetrators will be set free, while the victims, victimized and bullied.
This may be old news. I was not following the Apcet II suit then, but please read this rather lengthy report by Malaysiakini dated 21 June. I have highlighted some horrific revelations in red.
Apcet II: Megat ordered the mob attack
Ex-deputy home minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob had ordered for an Umno Youth-led mob to stop an international conference on East Timor 11 years ago, a key witness in the ‘Apcet II’ suit told the court today.
Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who was then Umno Youth secretary and had led the mob, also had the court in stitches when he revealed he was given a ‘nasi kandar’ treat by the police after the incident.
He was the seventh plaintiffs’ witness in the RM83 million civil suit filed by 36 local activists and journalists against the Malaysian government and several police officers for wrongful detention and police negligence.
The 43-year-old – who had tendered a public apology over his role in the mob in 2001 – has since joined the Opposition after he was sacked by Umno in 1998. He was also the ex-Lunas state assemblyperson where he contested on the PKR ticket.
Megat Junid’s instruction
In his testimony at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning, he recalled that the instruction to disrupt the conference was given to him by Megat Junid in a meeting held at the latter’s office.
Also present were Youth leaders from other BN component parties – MCA, MIC and PPP, as well as Umno’s Batu division head Azman Atar and several others whom he could not identify.
“Megat Junid started the meeting by telling us that a group of NGO activists will organise a seminar on East Timor in Kuala Lumpur. He said Malaysia’s stand is that the seminar is not permitted, fearing that we will be seen as interfering into problems in Indonesia,” he told the court.
“Megat Junid asked BN Youth to undertake the responsibility to stop the seminar as he said the government’s stand must be respected. I was asked to lead this task in my capacity as the Umno Youth secretary since the Umno Youth chief and vice-chief were abroad then,” he said.
Megat Junid said Azman will head another group who will also be there. He said matters related to the police have been arranged and the police will arrive at the seminar hall in 30 minutes, where everything will be settled then.
“He added that a few of us might be arrested in this task,” Saifuddin told the court.
At this juncture, plaintiffs’ counsel Ranjit Singh asked Saifuddin to elaborate on Megat Junid’s instruction.
Ranjit: Did Megat Junid tell you how to stop the conference?
Saifuddin: Megat Junid asked me to mobilise BN Youth members. Secondly, he told me – as the head of the Barisan Bertindak Rakyat Malaysia (BBRM, the mob) – to meet with the Apcet II organisers at the hotel and tell them to stop the conference. Megat Junid said if the organisers refuse, I am to switch off their PA system.
Ranjit: You said “matters related to the police have been arranged”, what does that mean?
Saifuddin: Megat Junid said in carrying out this task, few (BN Youth) members and I will be arrested but he told us not to worry because everything will be over if I can successfully perform the duty.
Judge Wan Adnan Muhamad interjected: So Megat Junid only ordered you to switch off the PA system?
Saifuddin: Yes.
Asked to elaborate on Azman’s role, the witness said the former was known to be “an aggressive person and have a wide networking including those linked to the kaki-kaki pukul (gangsters)”.
Participants unhappy
Continuing his testimony, Saifuddin said on the day of the incident, he and about 300 BN Youth members had gathered at a stadium close to the conference venue at 8am and after he briefed the members, they marched towards the hotel.
He said many other BN Youth members were already present outside the hotel when they arrived and the Federal Reserve Unit personnel were stationed at the hotel entrance.
“As the number of those gathered grew, some of them had already broke through the FRU barrier and went up to the conference venue,” he said, adding that he also followed suit.
“As we arrived in the conference room, the door was closed and some of us tried to open the door. After it was opened, we went inside the room. The dining tables were scattered,” he added.
According to Saifuddin, he and Tajuddin Rahman – who is now Pasir Salak Umno division head – took turns to ask the conference participants to disperse while the police led by Dang Wangi OCPD Zainal Abidin Ali only arrived about an hour later.
“I overheard there were participants who were unhappy with our presence and asked the police to instruct us to leave the conference so that they could proceed with the conference. I objected and told Zainal that we will only leave after the conference is halted and the participants had left.
“Zainal then told me that I was arrested,” he told the court. Apart from him, several other Umno Youth leaders were also arrested.
Asked what happened at the police station, Saifuddin said the police recorded a statement from him but the process was not completed.
“They asked for my name, position and address. As I was telling them what I was doing at the conference venue, another police officer invited me to another room where nasi kandar was served,” he said to the amusement of those present in court.
He was released after the nasi kandar treat. Saifuddin was charged in court later for disrupting the conference. He pleaded guilty and was fined RM1,500.
The hearing was adjourned to Aug 15-16 as the team of federal counsel had requested for another date to cross-examine Saifuddin. The court will also continue with the cross-examination on the sixth witness, R Sivarasa.
Irrelevant questions
Earlier, Senior Federal Counsel Iznan Ishak objected to three questions in Saifuddin’s witness statement explaining why the latter was sacked from Umno in 1998 and his current political involvement.
Justice Wan Adnan upheld Iznan’s arguments that the questions were irrelevant to the case.
On Nov 9, 1996, over 100 people – including 10 journalists – were arrested on the opening day of the Second Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet II), held to discuss human rights abuses in East Timor and its struggle for independence from Indonesia.
As the conference was about to begin, 400 members from the Umno Youth-led BBRM, or Malaysia’s People’s Action Front, broke down the doors of the conference halls, threw chairs and verbally and physically abused the participants.
Police then moved in to arrest the participants who were detained between one and six days, while 40 foreign participants were deported.
Online daily malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran and editor-in-chief Steven Gan, both then journalists at The Sun, are also among the plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs have named the government, then Inspector General of Police Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor and two senior police officers – then Kuala Lumpur chief police officer Ismail Che Rose and then Dang Wangi OCPD Zainal Abidin Ali – as respondents.
(picture courtesy of Zorro, without permission 
)
DEAR IPOH FOLKS,
THIS IS NOW THE TIME FOR YOU TO STEP OUT AND SPEAK OUT YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT THE STATE OF OUR NATION’S AFFAIRS. SAY NO TO INJUSTICE! SAY NO TO ISA!
THE ANTI-ISA CANDLELIGHT VIGIL IS NOW BROUGHT TO IPOH. COME OUT FROM YOUR HOMES TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT, JUST LIKE WHEN WE CAME OUT IN DROVES, WITH DETERMINATION TO THE POLLS, TO SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE TO THE BN GOVERNMENT.
COME DEAR IPOH FOLKS, SHOW THE NATION OUR ‘IPOH MALI’ POWER!
Please click on map for a bigger picture.
Please contact Jong at 017-578-1153, if you need directions to the venue. Do note that Jong is not the organiser, she’s just helping out with directions to the venue, should anyone have difficulty locating it. Thanks Jong for your kind offer to help.
Mr. Prime Minister,
You must be a terribly busy person now, since after announcing your decision to step down next March. After all you have only five short months to achieve such mighty and noble initiatives you set for yourself and for the good of Malaysians.
Oh, what initiatives? I do understand your tendency to forget things at this age, what more three pages of heartfelt visionary promises. I cannot remember anything beyond one page, so I don’t blame you. So let me jog your memory a bit. To make things easy for you and me, I will summarize your initiatives in a few sentences. I hope I do not lose the significance of your original text.
1) You want to make Malaysia a better place, inviting all Malaysians to unite and join you for this cause.
2) You want to enhance judiciary stature and credibility, by establishing a Judicial Appointments Commission.
3) You want an effective anti-corruption body that can combat the cancer of corruption without fear or favour, by establishing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
4) You want to enhance the integrity and effectiveness of enforcement agencies, by establishing a Special Complaints Commission.
5) You want to strengthen and enlarge the social safety net, to help poor and disadvantaged Malaysians, regardless of background, race and religion.
6) You want to see the government and BN renew their commitment towards building a united and harmonious nation, especially in the areas of inter-racial and inter-religious relations.
7) You want to convene a BN convention as a kick-start to a long-term effort in tackling issues head-on and through dialogue.
I am teary-eyed after going through your noble initiatives. But I wonder, Mr. Prime Minister, how you are able to achieve all these within five months. You might ask why I am skeptical of your ability, after all you have been in public service for 45 years.
It’s almost a month since your announcement to step down as PM. What are your plans to achieve these initiatives of yours? Have you been able to convince the cabinet and the BN supreme council to accept your initiatives? What’s your next step then? Are you having problems working these out? Your silence can be quite unsettling. I hope you are not nodding off…
Can I just give some of my scatter-brain suggestions?
Personally, I am reminded to live as if there’s no tomorrow. That means, I put my everything into today. I noticed that you aim to do this and that tomorrow. What if tomorrow never comes…? There will be no second chance for us.
Mr. Prime Minister, I urge you today to establish that Judicial Appointments Commission, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and Special Complaints Commission. Today, to establish policies that will build a united and harmonious nation. Today, to make Malaysia a better place; free from corruption, money politics, abuse of power and closing the disparity between the rich and poor.
Please don’t wait for tomorrow or the BN to do what you have to do. You have 22 millions Malaysians waiting to unite with you to make our nation a better place. Haven’t you heard our voices, crying for justice, for peace, for unity?
Mr. Prime Minister, I keep calling you Mr. Prime Minister to remind you that you are still the Prime Minister of Malaysia. And there are powers vested by the constitution as a Prime Minister to make decisions. Remember, you have the power to make it good or bad for Malaysians. Please use that power wisely.
For if tomorrow never comes, you will sure regret the day.
From:
a Anak Bangsa Malaysia
P.S. I just read about your u-turn decision on the Kimanis-Bintulu gas pipeline project (you can read more at Malaysiakini). Sigh! This is the reason why I suggested that you not to wait for tomorrow! For you have a tendency to flip-flop decisions. Mr. Prime Minister, please be careful about flip-flopping. Malaysians may think that you do not have a spine. Because things that flip-flop usually are spineless and light, thus making it easy to flip.
Recent Comments