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Lawyers not above the law, says Abdullah

Sunday, 09 December 2007 09:50pm

©The Sun (Used by permission)
by Husna Yusop and Charles Ramendran

SUBANG (Dec 9): No one is above the law. Action will be taken against anyone who breaks the law, including lawyers, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today.

“Although they are lawyers, if they breach or violate the law, action will certainly be taken against them. There is no discrimination in this matter,” he said.

He was commenting on the arrest of eight people, five of them lawyers, for taking part in a march in Kuala Lumpur today, to mark International Human Rights Day which falls tomorrow.

“If they did not heed the instructions given or break the law, the police have to act because they enforce the law, they don’t make the law. It is only proper for the police to take action,” Abdullah, who is internal security minister, said.

“I hope such action meant to oppose the government or violate the law is stopped. It does not bring any good to our country or the people. This is not our way or the culture that we should follow,” he said at the MasterCard-ntv7 Platinum Golf Masters 2007 grand finals at Saujana Golf and Country Club.

Asked to comment on the Bar Council statement that it did not need a police permit to assembly peacefully, Abdullah said: “The Bar is not involved in today’s event. I don’t have to comment on that.”

Earlier, he received RM500,000 raised during a charity drive of the tournament and handed the donations to Rumah Kanak-Kanak Taman Bakti, Kepala Batas; and the Mentally Retarded Children Association of Seberang Prai Tengah.

Last week, the Bar Council decided to call off the People’s Freedom Walk, which was initially part of its Festival of Rights today, in light of the recent controversy surrounding street protests.

However, some lawyers and activists decided to proceed with the walk. Five lawyers and three supporters were arrested during the peaceful march. They had gathered at about 7.30am in front of the Sogo shopping centre with other supporters on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman for the 1km walk to the Bar Council’s building on Lebuh Pasar Besar. There were 100 people when the group started walking 30 minutes later.

The district and state police personnel, headed by Dang Wangi Deputy OCPD Supt Hamzah Ismail, kept watch over the marchers and moved in to disperse them after they had moved several hundred metres.

Despite several warnings to disperse, the participants, carrying banners with human rights slogans and led by the lawyers, continued walking. Police stopped them at the Jalan Tun Perak junction.

The lawyers arrested Latheefah Koya, N. Surendran, R.Sivarasa, Eric Paulsen and Amer Hamzah.
The head of the Bar Council’s human rights committee, Edmond Bon, was arrested in front of the Bar Council building in the afternoon. He was coordinating a forum held there when City Hall officers demanded that he remove several banners displayed on the building, which they claimed was illegal.

“This is private property belonging to the Bar Council and you have no right to remove the banners, which are on our building. We are here for a good cause and it is a peaceful assembly,” Bon told a City Hall officer.

Pandemonium broke out when the City Hall officers began tearing down the banners as Bon and several other lawyers protested. Several policemen arrived and detained Bon.

In the melee, China Press photographer Fabian Lien, who was taking pictures of the incident, fell and was slightly injured.

Supt Hamzah said although the march was peaceful, it was still illegal as the participants did not have a police permit to assemble. He said the police arrested the eight people in the morning for defying orders to disperse and Bon was detained for obstructing City Hall officers from carrying out their duties.

Bar Council chairwoman Ambiga Sreenevasan, who went to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters where the nine people were held, said she was disappointed with the way the police handled the situation.

She said the police had refused those detained the right to a lawyer and this was a breach of human rights. However, she was able to meet the detainees later in the evening.

She added that the police quoted Section 28(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code, that they could choose not to allow the detainees to meet their lawyer if they had reason to believe it will affect investigations.

“I was alarmed by what they said, that I or the other lawyers would interfere and may jeopardise their investigations. We are disappointed with the police. We called off the walk in good faith and after taking public interest into consideration.

“Our member, Bon, was manhandled and physically removed for trying to preserve the banners on our building. This is a terrible infringement of our rights on our own building.

“I am in shock and utter disbelief of the police’s high-handedness.” she said.

Ambiga said although the Bar Council had called off the walk, several lawyers had decided to carry it out in their own capacity and it was their right to do so.

She said the Bar Council was intervening in the detention as the denial of their right to commemorate International Human Rights Day was a breach of their human rights.

“Today is a terrible setback for our country. It is a sad day for Malaysia on this very important day,” she said.

She said she will raise the matter with Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and demand an explanation on the excessive use of force.

Lawyers march
Lawyers and other supporters marching in support of freedom of assembly on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Tun Perak in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 9. The walk was held in conjunction with International Human Rights Day on Dec 10.
Sunpix By : Zulkifli Ersal.

One activist at the walk for freedom of assembly being detained by the police.
Sunpix By : Zulkifli Ersal.

Bar Council human rights committee Chairman Edmund Bon arrested by the police after he tried to stop Kuala Lumpur City Hall officers from removing banners on the Bar Council building in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday (Dec 09). SunPix By : Zulkifli Ersal.