Day: October 30, 2015

EAIC says Johor man’s 2014 death in custody was murder

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

Laporan-EAIC-SyedAzlanKUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — The use of physical violence by police during arrest and questioning was the cause of Syed Mohd Azlan Syed Mohamed Nur’s 2014 death in custody, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) said today.

According to the enforcement watchdog, its investigations also found attempts to obscure evidence from the 25-year-old’s interrogation that resulted in 61 separate injuries on various parts of his body.

The police officers involved also engaged in a “serious breach” of standard operating procedures concerning the handling of detainees, material seizure, and the integrity of statements.

“There was an element of crime in the attacks involving common intent or abetment by PDRM officers, including the arresting team, to intentionally use physical violence on the deceased to cause death or injury,” the EAIC said in a statement today. Read more →

Suaram wants charge against Bersih chief dropped

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Source: Malaysiakini

Human rights group Suaram has condemned the planned prosecution of Bersih chief Maria Chin Abdullah under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

Maria is set to be charged next Tuesday under Section 9(5) for failing to provide notice for the August 30 and 31 protest which saw more than 100,000 people hitting the streets to call for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s resignation.

Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy called the prosecution “illogical” and “unjustifiable”.

“In light of the fact that the required notice is given to the Royal Malaysian Police, there is no legitimate justification for Maria Chin to be charged under Section 9(5) of the Act. Read more →

Strip AG of prosecutorial powers, says G25

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Source: Malaysiakini

The prosecutorial powers of the attorney-general should be transferred to an independent office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the G25 Group of Eminent Malays recommends.

It said the office of the attorney-general should not combine the roles of adviser to the government and public prosecutor.

“There is a fundamental conflict of interest in the functions and powers of the AG, which enables him to take action against national interests.

“It is poor governance that the AG is the legal adviser for the government of Malaysia and also the final arbiter on decisions to prosecute,” G25 said in a statement today. Read more →

Court overturns ban on pro-Sarawak rights group

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

SAPA president Lina Soo says the people of Sarawak have every right to speak if they feel that MA63 conditions have been violated on October 30, 2015. ― Picture by Sulok Tawie

KUCHING, Oct 30 ― The High Court today reversed the home ministry’s decision to ban a local civil society group, nearly a year after the pro-Sarawak rights movement was declared illegal by Putrajaya.

Datuk Rhodzarian Bujang ruled that the ministry’s decision to ban the Sarawak Association of Peoples’ Aspirations (SAPA) was irrational, illegal, unconstitutional and without basis.

“As of today, SAPA is no longer an illegal society,” the group’s counsel Dominique Ng Kim Ho told reporters after the judge made her ruling in chambers.

Ng said the judge agreed with his arguments that SAPA was not given the chance to respond to allegations made against them before the ministry declared that it was illegal on November 14 last year.

He added that five out of the nine police reports lodged against the group had nothing to do with a public forum organised by SAPA, where a panel speaker had allegedly made seditious remarks. Read more →

Why are some refugees more equal than others? – Syerleena Abdul Rashid

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Source: The Malaysian Insider

A few weeks ago on the night of Maal Hijrah, the Immigration Department raided a village in Bagan Dalam, mainland Penang and rounded up about 80 “illegal immigrants”. Sixty of them were refugees and asylum seekers which included women and children. A majority of refugees living in this community were Rohingya Muslims who, as we know, are regarded as the most persecuted and most vulnerable communities in the world.

Just last month, the government surprised the entire nation by saying that our country would “open its doors to 3,000 Syrian migrants over the next three years to help alleviate the refugee crisis”. Read more →

Pelan selaraskan sivil-syariah bakal undang bencana, pengkritik jawab Putrajaya

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Sumber: The Malaysian Insider

Pengkritik menyelar cadangan ‘mengharmonikan’ undang-undang sivil dan syariah, kerana undang-undang syariah semasa di Malaysia tidak menyerlahkan keindahan Islam. – Gambar fail The Malaysian Insider, 30 Oktober, 2015.

Kenyataan Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yang Malaysia kini dalam proses “mengharmonikan” undang-undang sivil dan syariah menyebabkan pengkritik menggesa Putrajaya mempertimbangkan semula keutamaannya, di sebalik keadaan semasa undang-undang Islam di negara ini.

Seorang aktivis Islam menyifatkan kenyataan timbalan perdana menteri itu langkah menarik pengundi Melayu-Islam, manakala seorang peguam berkata, Putrajaya sepatutnya memberi tumpuan menyelesaikan konflik di antara undang-undang syariah dan sivil.

Pengasas Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) Datuk Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa berkata, kerajaan gagal melaksanakan intipati sebenar undang-undang syariah di Malaysia, dan mengharmonikannya sekarang dengan undang-undang sivil boleh mencetuskan “bencana”. Read more →