Three ‘executed’ while kneeling before cops, says lawyer

PETALING JAYA, June 9 — Post-mortem reports on three youths showed they were kneeling when they were shot by policemen last year, a legal rights group said today. Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) claimed today that the three were executed. Prominent lawyer and LFL co-ordinator N. Surendran (picture)told reporters at the PKR headquarters here that according…

DBKL ‘vandals’ damage estate property

PETALING JAYA: The residents of Bukit Jalil estate claimed another “official vandalism” took place yesterday when nearly 30 Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers tore their banners. It all took place in the presence of nearly 20 police officers. The estate action committee treasurer K Balakrishnan said that DBKL officers arrived at the estate at…

Malaysian police slammed for marking ‘prostitutes’

Malaysian activists condemned police on Saturday for using marker pens to “brand” 30 suspected prostitutes with large crosses on their foreheads. Newspaper pictures published on Friday of the 29 Chinese and one Vietnamese arrested in a vice raid on a high-end nightclub on the holiday island of Penang sparked outrage among rights groups who demanded…

HRW – Indonesia/Malaysia: New Pact Shortchanges Domestic Workers

Weak Protections as Global Body Finalizes Comprehensive Standards (Geneva, May 31, 2011) – A revised agreement between Malaysia and Indonesia provides some benefits for migrant domestic workers but fails to provide some needed safeguards linked to low wages and high recruitment fees, Human Rights Watch said today. A series of high-profile abuse cases led Indonesia in June 2009 to ban new…

Detention without trial must end now

KUALA LUMPUR: Four NGOs -Suaram, Bar Council, Loyar Burok, Lawyers for Liberty- would be filing a judicial review to challenge the detention of three youths under the Emergency Ordinance. Muhamad Arif Abu Samah, 20, was placed under EO in Mersing this month.Two brothers – Mohamed Ramadan Mohamed Ali, 22, and Mohamad Rafe, 20, were placed…

Judge endorses prosecution case in Malaysian opposition leader’s trial

Malaysian High Court judge Mohamad Zadidin Mohd Diah ruled on Monday that the prosecution had established a prima facie case in the trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and rejected an application by defence lawyers to dismiss the charge of sodomy. The ruling, like the case itself, was a highly political one. Prime Minister Najib Razak’s…

Refugee nightmare plays out for Gillard

The past week has brought home that the Labor government can’t claim a shred of principle on asylum policy any more. It has shamed itself repeatedly and in a most hypocritical way. Those who condemned the Pacific solution have embraced a Malaysian one. The people who said Nauru was unacceptable for offshore processing in part…

Three to challenge Emergency Ordinance

  KUALA LUMPUR: Three young men detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) for suspected vehicle theft will be asking the court to compel the Cabinet to advise the King to revoke the 1969 law, in a test case to challenge the long-standing EO. Muhamad Arif Abu Samah, 19, Mohamed Ramadan Mohamed Ali, 22, and Mohamed…

Human Rights Watch – Australia: End Threat of Tawdry Refugee Trade

Drop Proposal to Swap Asylum Seekers, Refugees With Malaysia (New York, May 26, 2011) – Australia risks reneging on its international legal obligations if it forcibly transfers 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Human Rights Watch urged Australia not to proceed with…

2nd post-mortem: 4-hr wait for body in van outside hospital

The body of Mohamad Johari Abu Bakar who was shot on 13 May had to wait for four hours in a parked van before University Malaya Medical Centre finally accepted it late this evening. “Complete insensitivity,” said an irate Latheefa Koya over the phone just now. “I am shocked,” the lawyer added of the hospital’s…

Malaysia-Australia deal ‘threatens migrants’ safety’

Tenaganita executive director Irene Fernandez (left) talks to journalists outside the Australia embassy in Kuala Lumpur on May 25, 2011. — PHOTO: AFP   KUALA LUMPUR – RIGHTS activists stepped up their battle on Wednesday against Australia’s decision to send 800 boatpeople to Malaysia, claiming the deal threatens the migrants’ safety. Representatives from five rights…

Refugee swap: NGOs keep the heat on

KUALA LUMPUR: Several NGOs submitted a joint memorandum to the Australian High Commission here today protesting the asylum seekers swap between Malaysia and Australia. At a press conference later, Tenaganita chairman Irene Fernandez said civil societies were in the dark about the details of the agreement. “So we asked for the details but the deputy…

Second post-mortem for teen shot by cops, court rules

  The family outside the police station in Damansara with PKR MP R. Sivarasa two weeks ago after they made their police report. — Picture by Choo Choy May SHAH ALAM, May 25 — The High Court today granted the family of the late Mohamad Johari Abu Bakar a second post-mortem, but asked the family…

‘Refugee swap illegal’: Local NGOs agree

PETALING JAYA: Local NGOs agreed with the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) that Australia’s plan to send boat people to Malaysia could be illegal. High Commissioner Navi Pillay was quoted in the Australian media today as saying that the refugee swap would be against the law since Malaysia was not a…

Pathologist ignored our queries, says dead teen’s family

SHAH ALAM, May 24 — The family of the late Mohamad Johari Abu Bakar has accused a government pathologist of failing to consult and inform them of the first post-mortem done on the 17-year-old on May 13. Dr Abdul Karim Tajuddin, a government pathologist in Hospital Serdang, conducted a post-mortem on the teenager after he…