On Friday, while on my way to Court, I received a SMS stating “5 LAC (Legal Aid Clinic) representing clients last night! Solidarity & protest gathering 10am TODAY, Duta Court. Wear court attire”.
What happened was ..
5 legal aid lawyers – Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal (KL Bar Committee LAC Chairperson), Syuhaini Safwan, Murni Hidayah and Puspawati Rosman – were ARRESTED at IPD Brickfields at about 11.45pm, 7 May 2009 in the course of rendering legal assistance and representation to a group of 14 detainees.
As at 4.30am, 8 May 2009, they are being held overnight and may be remanded further or charged later in the day. The police have denied access to counsel and family, and despite repeated requests, have refused to provide further details as to their next course of action.
I was disgusted. It was clearly an abuse of power. How can the police arrest lawyers who were there to give assistance to detainees? We are empowered by the law to do so!
The notice to gather was rather short. It was early in the morning and most of lawyers haven’t check their emails. (A mass email was sent out too).
Immediately after my matter at Court, I headed to the foyer to meet up with other fellow lawyers. The response was low initially. But the numbers begin to swell and had around 200 lawyers later in the day. This is not inclusive of those who had came for a while. Reminds me of my high school days..peeekkk yaaauuu arrr!
Couple of police officers came to the foyer to keep an eye on us. But gathering was rather uneventful.
Earlier in the morning…
Most of us were waiting for the lawyers to be brought into Court to be charged. However, no one knew where they were and their handphones have been turned off. These lawyers were only 2 -3 years in practice and what made it worst is that 4 of them were girls. It put us men to shame when girls were in the police station helping out detainees while us men were at home watching TV or fapping to porn.
We waited and waited for the lawyers to appear in Court. The Bar Council Chairman and the Selangor Bar Chairman gave a speech to all of us but it was cut short by the police.
Credits to Malaysiainsider.com
Fortunately, by 3pm, the lawyers were released without charge. It was a huge relieve for us.
Video on how the incident unfolded.
The Federal Constitution provides the right to legal representation to all citizens. It is saddening that the lawyers were arrested for discharging their duties and to have the police withholding that every citizen’s right to legal representation.
The Bar Council will be holding an EGM on the 15 May to condemn what has happened. I hope something good will turn out from there.
Related Links
Malaysiakini – 200 lawyers protest against arrests
Malaysian Bar – Lawyer arrested? Unbelievable!
Malaysian Bar – Picture of the lawyers who were arrested
Unfortunately us Malaysians are usually meek by nature, most would rather stand by and watch as events unfold themselves without even considering putting themselves in danger, and that is exactly what they are trying to take advantage of; reinstilling the fear into the hearts of the public just like a dictatorian leadership would do.
But take heart! With the unstoppable awareness that has begun to spread not only among the online community, but on the grounds as well, the one major difference between previous times and now is that we have a lot more educated Malaysians in our midst. With the changing times, those who are responsible for this outrageous act should not discount the fact that these silent bystanders, meek as they may be, could very well be outraged by the police’s act, link it to certain quarters (perceived truth or not, it doesn’t really matter) and ultimately decide their fate three years from now…
I’ve truly disgusted by this – this is after reading up on Corporate Governance today for my upcoming Law of Investment paper, I was disappointed and disgusted to read issues like Pewaja Steel, MAS, etc in which billions of taxpayers’ money have gone to waste for the benefit of the very few. It seems like nothing much has changed, although after March 8 I can only hope things will finally change for the better.
I echo Chris’ sentiments that Malaysians are generally meek. Not many would dare to stand up to what they believe for – maybe that’s what we’ve been “taught” since young to jangan jaga tepi kain orang.
I’m truly* -_-
sad! very very disappointed!
While crime is becoming increasingly rampant not only within the Klang Valley but all around Malaysia, our police are being deployed to arrest lawyers who are merely trying to represent their clients. No wonder crime is not controlled. If they can make an arrest like this, why not go to Jalan Duta Courts and arrest all the criminal lawyers there defending their clients? Fucking idiots.