Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Malaysia Bans Books
- 'Give me back my land’
- Neck ties now a threat to national security
- Assange case judges reserve decision
- Customs officer: I was beaten and forced to confess
- UN: Malaysia Acts Too Much against Protesters
- 3,424-diamond bangle cost RM1.65 mil
- Malaysian police used 'excessive force' in KL rally
- US airs concerns on Malaysia crackdown
- 170,000 'like' Facebook page urging Malaysia PM to go
- Apologies Needed, Not Denials
- It’s too late, Najib
- Ahead of Malaysia-Vatican ties, an archbishop under siege
| Posted: 13 Jul 2011 11:10 PM PDT
Making fun of the government is not allowed (Asia Sentinel) - A Malaysian High Court judge has upheld the banning of books by a popular political cartoonist for the online news site Malaysiakini and by a columnist closely connected to the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The ban, requested by Home Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein under the country's Printing Presses and Publications Act, is on two books by the cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaq, known by his pen name Zunar, and a third by columnist Yong Thye Chong, who writes under the pen name Kim Quek.
|
| Posted: 13 Jul 2011 07:28 PM PDT
By Joseph Tawie, FMT KUCHING: A housewife here is demanding that the state government return a piece of land which it had clamped in 1999, under Section 47, purportedly for construction of a school. Shuriyanna Ahmad is not alone. Scores of other natives living a stone's throw from the present State Legislative Assembly building have also suffered the same fate.The government had in 1999 issued a Section 47 notification on their lands. At the time they said the land may be acquired for the construction of a secondary school. "But until now, the government has not decided whether to develop the land or not. It has deprived us of doing something economically to our land. "We want our land back so that we can do something useful to the land. For me, I want to build a house on that piece of land which is about 0.8 acre," she said. Having patiently waited 13 years, Shuriyanna has now decided to take legal action and seek the assistance of Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen. Chong, who is also state DAP secretary, told reporters today that he had written a letter to the Land and Survey Department, State Planning and Resource Management Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hassan and Chief Minister Taib Mahmud requesting the Section 47 notification to be lifted. He said if the government decided to acquire the land for development, then the state authorties must pay the landowners the market price of the land at the time the Section 47 notification was imposed on the property. In this case it was in 1999. "This is highly unfair to her. For the last 13 years, the land prices in Kuching have gone up by leaps and bounds. "Some prices of land have even doubled. "And yet because of the (present) law (land code) the government is taking advantage and victimising the landowners," he said. Inadequate compensation Recalling a statement made by Awang in 2007, Chong said Awang Tengah had indicated that the government would review the need to acquire lands that came under Section 47 every two years. "Until today there is no review, and nothing has been done. Shuriyanna's land is still subject to Section 47 and so are the lands nearby," he said, adding that some 60 acres of land are involved. Chong, who is also the Bandar Kuching MP, said that the problem facing the landowners is that they cannot do anything to the land after the imposition of Section 47.
|
| Neck ties now a threat to national security Posted: 13 Jul 2011 06:16 PM PDT
(Bernama) - Police will take action including arresting individuals found selling items related to the Bersih illegal rally on Saturday and seizing these items as it is against the law. Shah Alam police chief ACP Ahmad Zahedi Ayob said the sale of items such as T-shirts and neckties bearing the logo of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) was strictly not allowed.
|
| Assange case judges reserve decision Posted: 13 Jul 2011 04:04 PM PDT
(Agencies) - LONDON:Judges considering the extradition of Julian Assange need to find evidence of "monumental proportions" to excuse the Australian from facing sexual assault allegations in Sweden. That is the argument of prosecutors who have already convinced one British judge of the need for the WikiLeaks founder to return to Stockholm where two women claim to have been victim to his forceful and at times violent sexual actions in August 2010. In February Assange, now 40, was ordered to return to Sweden by Senior District Judge Howard Riddle, who dismissed claims by defence lawyers that the extradition was without legal basis and would result in a violation of human rights. Assange has appealed the extradition order in Britain's High Court, overseen by Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Ouseley, who have heard a second day of argument over the detail of a European Arrest Warrant which alleges three counts of sexual assault and one of rape against two women on two separate occasions. Assange has not been charged and denies the allegations, including that he deliberately broke a condom to have unprotected sex, saying that on each occasion sex was consensual and that Judge Riddle's extradition order was "wrong". "If a woman chooses to spend the night in a single bed with a male, there is an inevitable possibility that she will come into contact with an erect penis at some time," barrister Ben Emmerson, QC, told the court. Lawyers for Assange further argued that the extradition warrant fails to meet points of law, including that he is not named for prosecution, but instead simply wanted for questioning, which could be done by phone. However prosecutor Clare Montgomery, QC, said that the warrant is valid and contains allegations capable of justifying criminal charges. "Those charges as claimed are substantiated by probable cause," she told the court. "With that as a factual background, your Lords would need evidential clarity of quite monumental proportions to displace what the (Swedish) prosecutor has complained about." Comparing evidence in the arrest warrant to that detailed in a prosecution dossier and not yet made available to the court, Ms Montgomery said the particulars are essentially the same. "In my opinion, when one does that (comparison) it is perfectly plain that what one is looking at is not only … non-consensual, coerced sex …. but that that is clearly the only inference that can be drawn from the claimants," she said. "They did not freely consent … (but) were coerced either by physical force or after having been trapped into a position where they couldn't (refuse) and … they let him continue. "If what they say matters, they are clearly describing violent sex acts where there was no reason to believe consent had been granted." Montgomery accused Assange's lawyers of "19th Century conceptions of consent", adding that in contemporary law, consent to share a bed, or even engage in foreplay, does not translate to consent to have intercourse. Furthermore, to Assange's desire to engage in unprotected sex, Montgomery referred to a witness statement made by one of the complainants that: "(Assange) preferred virgins because he would be the first to impregnate them". Emmerson said the allegations needed to be considered in their entirety and not with the "socially desirable interpretations of consent" suggested by the prosecution. The judges have reserved their decision in the appeal and will hand down their findings at a date to be confirmed.
|
| Customs officer: I was beaten and forced to confess Posted: 13 Jul 2011 03:09 PM PDT
By Melissa Chi, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — A Customs officer who was among those arrested in a recent crackdown on corruption in the Customs Department said he was beaten and forced to confess to taking bribes. Abdul Rahim Abdul Kadir, 41, told a coroner's inquest into the death of Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed that he was detained by the MACC from April 1 to 5. The two were among those arrested in the swoop. "The officers raised their voices and snarled at me, and even threatened me so I would confess," Abdul Rahim said. He said he was hit on the head during questioning on April 4 and he wasn't allowed to perform his prayers. Ahmad Sarbaini, the Selangor Customs assistant director, was found dead after he was believed to have fallen from the pantry on the third floor of the MACC office in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6 and landed on the badminton court on the first floor. Ahmad Sarbaini had confessed on April 4 to accepting between RM50 and RM100 a month from Schenker Logistics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd officer Wan Zainal Abidin Wan Zaki as well as between RM30 and RM200 a month from a Top Mark Freight & Shipping Sdn Bhd officer called Ah Seng.
|
| UN: Malaysia Acts Too Much against Protesters Posted: 13 Jul 2011 02:21 PM PDT
By VIVAnews Tens of thousands of Malaysian protesters called for free and fair elections on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on last Saturday, July 9. The government however reacted with heavy-handedness when dealing with the mass protest, arresting around 1,700 people and injured many as teargas and watercannon were fired. Provided the incident, the United Nations human rights office voiced concern about the use of excessive force against protesters. |
| 3,424-diamond bangle cost RM1.65 mil Posted: 13 Jul 2011 01:41 PM PDT
By B Nantha Kumar, FMT KUALA LUMPUR: The pair of bangles with 3,424 diamond stones, allegedly owned by Rosmah Mansor, is worth RM1.65 million, according to fine jewellers Jacob & Co. In an e-mail communique to FMT, the New-York based jewellers said the price for the pair of bangles is US$540,000 (RM1.65 million). Jacob & Co said each 18k white gold bangle is fitted with 1,712 diamond stones and weighed 137.31 grams. "Each bangle is studded with 751 stones 30.00ct of black diamonds and 34.50ct 961 stones of fancy intense white diamonds," the company added. Yesterday, a pro-Pakatan Rakyat blogger published a photograph of Rosmah sporting a pair of bangles which looked strikingly similar to Jacob & Co's "Zebra Safari" collection. Yesterday, bloggers had claimed that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's wife had acquired a diamond ring from the same jewellers, worth a whopping RM73 million.
|
| Malaysian police used 'excessive force' in KL rally Posted: 13 Jul 2011 01:21 PM PDT
By Teo Cheng Wee, Straits Times (Singapore) Police used excessive and unnecessary force against Bersih rally participants while arrests were made randomly and arbitrarily, according to the Malaysian Bar Council. The Bar Council's comments - detailed in a report by a team of 100 people who openly monitored the rally last Saturday - add to the flak that the authorities have received from the United Nations, human rights groups and international news editorials over their handling of the demonstration for electoral reforms. More than 1,600 people were arrested and one man died in Malaysia's biggest street protest in years, as police fired tear gas and sprayed chemical-laced water at tens of thousands of protesters. The police's response was indiscriminate and made without audible warning to the demonstrators, said Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee, who signed off on the report. With the exception of an unruly few, most of the participants had behaved in a peaceful and calm manner, he said. The report also noted that police were seen beating, hitting and kicking some of the protest participants, contradicting earlier remarks by Prime Minister Najib Razak that there was "no physical contact" between police and protesters. It reserved praise, however, for "a significant number" of police officers who were polite towards protest leaders and participants. The report ended with the Bar Council calling for the government to "uphold the constitutional rights of Malaysians to assemble without a need for police permits", and to investigate the claims of aggression by the police. "The outcome of the monitoring exercise demonstrates that people in Malaysia are mature and peace-loving when championing a cause they believe in," said Lim. "This is contrary to the fear of possible racial disharmony or riots, expressed by irresponsible public figures." Days after the Bersih rally, reports such as the Bar Council's have kept public pressure on the government of Prime Minister Najib. Already a Facebook petition for Datuk Seri Najib to resign has picked up speed, with close to 180,000 'likes', five days after it was posted. The PM is out of the country, on an official visit to Britain. Prominent online news websites have also been regularly publishing first-hand accounts from protesters, many of whom hit out at the authorities and their heavy- handed response. "Was there violence? Yes - tear gas, water cannon... but well, if you want to call making lots of noise and chants, and singing (national anthem) Negara Ku and shouting 'Daulat Tuanku' (Long live the King) several times violence, I guess we were pretty violent," one protester wrote in a column yesterday. Pro-Umno blogs, however, have attempted to deflect the criticism by highlighting the buffet spread that Bersih detainees were treated to by the authorities, at a cost of 25 ringgit (US$8) per person. They also referred to standby medical treatment and makeshift prayer tents that were provided during the rally, claiming that these showed that the police treated Bersih protesters well. Parts of the mainstream media also continued to hit out at Bersih organisers and opposition leaders for holding the illegal rally. In an editorial yesterday, Umno-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia accused Selangor Pakatan Rakyat leaders of disobeying the Malaysian King and the Selangor Sultan. The King had called for restraint and urged the government and Bersih organisers to hold consultations over the issue of elections. The Selangor Sultan had warned the public to stay away from street protests. "Is it wrong to call them treasonous and liars out to damage the institution of the monarchs?" said Utusan's editorial. "This group lied to the King when they still brought their supporters to the streets." |
| US airs concerns on Malaysia crackdown Posted: 13 Jul 2011 10:35 AM PDT
(AFP) - WASHINGTON - THE United States on Wednesday voiced concern about Malaysia's weekend crackdown on an opposition-backed rally and said it would keep an eye on developments. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons to end Saturday's rally to demand electoral changes and arrested more than 1,600 people. One demonstrator was killed. 'We do have some concerns,' State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. 'We... continue to stand for the right for people to freely express their democratic aspirations and express their views freely.' 'I would stress that those must be peaceful demonstrations,' Mr Toner said. 'We continue to monitor the situation closely.' Malaysia has promised to investigate allegations of police brutality. Prime Minister Najib Razak has defended the police, saying the rally was a ploy to tarnish the country's image. International human rights groups strongly criticised the crackdown and urged the United States and other countries to put pressure on Malaysia to ensure accountability. Malaysia has been looking to build closer relations with the United States amid an effort by President Barack Obama's administration to reach out to South-east Asia. -- AFP |
| 170,000 'like' Facebook page urging Malaysia PM to go Posted: 13 Jul 2011 10:34 AM PDT
(AFP) - KUALA LUMPUR - A FACEBOOK petition has seen more than 170,000 people back a call for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to quit, days after an electoral reform rally was broken up by police firing tear gas. The page titled '100,000 People Request Najib Tun Razak Resignation' was set up on Saturday, the same day police arrested more than 1,600 people during the mass protest in the capital Kuala Lumpur. Backed by opposition parties, electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 mobilised thousands of people to hit the streets in the biggest rally in four years, piling the pressure on Mr Najib with elections widely expected next year. Following the demonstration, the page attracted around 300 'likes' per minute, hitting its 100,000 target early Monday and the number has been steadily increasing with the page showing 172,868 'likes' on Wednesday morning. 'I don't understand why the harshness, the beatings (by police) and the tear gas,' according to a post by supporter Sofie Muhammad on the page. 'The crowd didn't even throw stones at the shops, why is the government afraid? All we want is free elections.' Others felt the prime minister was too far removed from what was happening on the ground. 'Najib is out of touch. He cannot understand pain of tear gas, irritation of chemical water, pain of being kicked and beaten up by (police),' said Longyao Phang in another posting. |
| Posted: 13 Jul 2011 09:28 AM PDT
By Tony Pua The IGP and the BN Government should stop making fools of themselves to the entire watching world. Eleven doctors who were present at Tung Shin Hospital have bravely stepped forward to present their eye-witness accounts on the fact that the police force has violated the sanctity of the hospital and to express their disgust at the authorities for having "shamelessly denied publicly, the occurrence of these incidents..." All three leaders, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ismail Omar, Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai and MCA President, Dr Chua Soi Lek were extremely quick to deny the incidents where the police deployed tear gas and water cannons onto the hospital compounds and entered the hospital to arrest, sometimes violently, Bersih supporters who had sought refuge there. They had defended the actions of the police despite the avalanche of visual evidence that the hospital was attacked with the most pathetic and incredulous of excuses, like the "wind" blowing the tear gas into the hospital compound or that the police "only brought in some injured demonstrators for medical treatment". After being criticised heavily for his 'valiant' but futile attempt to defend the police, the Health Minister had attempted to salvage his reputation by pushing the blame to the Hospital board of directors instead and asked "everyone to wait for the results of police investigations into all reports on incidents that took place on Saturday." While he was initially very quick to absolve the police from blame, Liow had the cheek to then ask "everyone to wait for the results of police investigations" after having seen the evidence otherwise. Worse, his party president, Dr Chua persisted in arguing that the videos and pictures were "unclear", proving that the former Health Minister is either physically blind or acting blind. Now with 11 distinguished medical specialists testifying what Malaysians already know as the truth, are the IGP, Health Minister and MCA President going to procrastinate further by claiming that they need to send the video recordings and photographs to experts in the United States, this time to prove that the evidence have been, forgive the pun, 'doctored'? The IGP and the BN Government should stop making fools of themselves to the entire watching world. The IGP must take responsibility for the infraction, and apologise immediately to the hospital for the "scant regard for the safety of patients, staff and the general public who were at the buildings that afternoon," to quote the good doctors. The Health Minister must apologise to all Malaysians for failing to protect the hospitals under his charge by demanding accountability from the police force, and to the hospital on behalf of the federal government. He must also retract all the lamest exuses and lies he had provided to defend the actions of the police earlier, if he is sincere about respect for hospitals as a "place of convalescence", as he preached in his tweet yesterday. Dr Chua Soi Lek, himself a practising doctor, should give voice to Malaysians who are disgusted with the actions of the police and prove that MCA is not without a backbone, remaining completely voiceless in Barisan Nasional and subsevient to Umno. He must apologise not only for MCA's failure to defend what is morally and ethically right, but also for becoming apologists for the BN state apparatus used to repress ordinary Malaysians defending their constitutional right.
|
| Posted: 13 Jul 2011 09:15 AM PDT
By K Pragalath, FMT There is a Malay saying to the effect that you can profit from your regret only if you heed it before doing something to cause it. The wisdom of this saying should be hitting Najib and Co as they attempt to repair their battered image in the wake of mindlessly violent suppression of citizens' right to peacefully assemble and express their dissatisfaction. Damage control at this point is just too late. Even as Barisan Nasional called former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi out of retirement to spew propaganda on its behalf, visual images and eyewitness reports of harsh police action are already all over cyberspace, and condemnations by international organisations and in the foreign press have continued. Indeed, the Jakarta Post has printed an editorial that supports Bersih 2.0's demands, as if spitting in the face of Foreign Minister Anifah Amin, who is on a damage control trip in Indonesia. Even the United Nations has accused Malaysian authorities of undermining democracy. Trying to justify suppression of human rights is hard enough for an administration that claims to be espousing democracy, but the police and members of Najib Tun Razak's cabinet are making it worse by continuing to vilify Bersih 2.0. Their argument that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is behind Bersih does not hold water for at least two reasons. One, the steering committee does not include politically affiliated individuals, unlike in Bersih 1.0. Two, Bersih chief S Ambiga publicly told Anwar off after he said he would tell her to call off the rally.
|
| Ahead of Malaysia-Vatican ties, an archbishop under siege Posted: 13 Jul 2011 09:08 AM PDT  KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — As Putrajaya gears up to establish formal ties with the Vatican, the archbishop of Kuala Lumpur has come under scrutiny from certain sections of his congregation who question his role in the government's diplomatic mission. Some of the harshest criticism against Archbishop Murphy Pakiam come, surprisingly, from within the local Roman Catholic Church, with a vocal few labelling the senior cleric a "sellout", as one local priest recounted to The Malaysian Insider. Rev Father Michael Chua acknowledged that Pakiam (picture) has come under attack since word got out that the archbishop will be accompanying Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the federal government's official visit to meet Pope Benedict XVI next week. "Many critics may view the establishment of these ties and the participation of the local hierarchy as a 'selling out' or radical change of position by the Church," said the ecclesiastical assistant in the Archdiocesan Ministry of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs (AMEIA) for the Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. The priest attributed the Catholic community's anger to the timing of the visit. "Perhaps, what may render it as controversial to some people is that Putrajaya chooses to respond at this time," he said. "It is unfortunate that this event comes after the occurrence of several tensed and critical events, including the use of the 'Allah' word in the Church's publication, the Alkitab and the Bersih rally," he said, linking their outrage to a series of current events that have raised chilled relations between Christians and the majority Muslim federal government. Chua said if not for those issues "most Catholics would be celebrating that ties are finally being established between the Vatican and Malaysia after years of pursuing this". The other problem, he said, was that many Malaysian Catholics were not able to distinguish between a state that has diplomatic ties with the Vatican and a state that does not, which causes them to question why the archbishop is accompanying the Malaysian delegation. "In the case of the former, a visit by a head of state would therefore not involve the local hierarchy as all communique will be via the respective state's ambassadors (the nuncio, in the case of the Vatican)," Chua explained. The Malaysian Insider understands that the Catholic Church does not usually send a representative to accompany the government's diplomatic missions. The priest explained that many were under the impression that the local Church has abandoned its role in standing up for values to build a just, peaceful and equitable society. Chua confessed that he has been approached by several concerned churchgoers over the seeming conflict of interests for a man of the cloth to act as the government's wingman on an official trip. "However, in the present case, since there are no diplomatic ties between the Vatican and Malaysia, Archbishop Pakiam, a local prelate of the Catholic Church who has been instrumental in laying the ground work for this state-to-state diplomatic relations, has been invited by the Vatican to be part of this process," Chua said. He further explained that the Vatican has always sought relations with all countries.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan