The Malaysian Bar - SUHAKAM Public Inquiry into the Arrest and Detention of Five Lawyers of the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre (KL)

SUHAKAM Public Inquiry into the Arrest and Detention of Five Lawyers of the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre (KL) – Submission date: 20 March 2010

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 10:43am

Article contributed by Adilah Ariffin, Executive Officer

The panel of Commissioners for the above-captioned SUHAKAM Public Inquiry has fixed 20 March 2010 as the date for oral submissions from all parties. That day’s session of the Inquiry will commence at 10:00 am at SUHAKAM Inquiry Room, Level 29, Menara Tun Razak, Jalan Raja Laut, 50050 Kuala Lumpur.

The deadline for written submissions is 17 March 2010.

Summary of key events

7 May 2009	The police refused five volunteer lawyers from the Bar Council Legal Aid Centre (KL) - Fadiah Nadwa binti Fikri (Secretary, LAC KL), Murnie Hidayah binti Anuar, Puspawati binti Rosman, Ravinder Singh Dhalliwal (Chairperson, LAC KL) and Syuhaini binti Safwan - were wrongfully arrested, detained and interrogated in the course of carrying out their professional obligationsThe lawyers were seeking access to their clients who had been arrested earlier that same night whilst holding a candlelight vigil at the same police station over the recent arrest of BERSIH activist and political scientist Wong Chin Huat. After their arrest, the lawyers were themselves denied access to counsel and detained overnight.
8 May 2009	Lawyers assembled at the Jalan Duta Court Complex in a solidarity gathering to express outrage at the actions of the police.The Bar Council (BC) held a press conference and issued a press statement entitled “Arrests of Lawyers a Blatant Transgression of the Rule of Law”.
15 May 2009	BC held an Extraordinary General Meeting. Close to 1,500 Members of the Bar attended, including pupils in chambers, and a resolution calling for the resignation of the Minister for Home Affairs, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and the OCPD and DSP Jude Pereira of the Brickfields police station was unanimously passed.
19 May 2009	BC issued a press statement entitled “Criminal Justice System is the Foundation of Social Order”.
20 May 2009	BC submitted a memorandum to SUHAKAM calling for a public inquiry.
22 June 2009	BC submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister calling for the resignation of the Minister for Home Affairs, the IGP, and OCPD ACP Wan Abdul Bari bin Wan Abdul Khalid and DSP Jude Pereira of the Brickfields police station, among other demands.
May to June 2009	BC sought support from various bar associations, following which LawAsia, Commonwealth Lawyers' Association and Union Internationale des Avocats wrote directly to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and the Advocates’ Association of Sarawak issued a press statement, condemning the wrongful arrests and detention.
13 July 2009	SUHAKAM issued a press statement stating their agreement to conduct a public inquiry with a panel of three SUHAKAM Commissioners, to start on 14 Aug 2009.
24 July 2009	The terms of reference for the Inquiry were issued. The panel of Commissioners comprise Dato’ Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (Chairperson), Dato’ Dr Denison Jayasooria and Dato’ Dr Michael Yeoh Onn Kheng. The five lawyers are represented by M Puravalen, Saha Deva Arunasalam and Valen Khor Xiou Shan. The watching brief counsel from BC are Andrew Khoo, Usha Kulasegaran, Siti Zabedah Kasim, Seira Sacha Abu Bakar, Allison Ong Lee Fong, Chow Siew Lin and Roger Chan Weng Keng.
Aug 2009 to Feb 2010	Individuals called to give oral evidence at the Inquiry were: · members of the public who were arrested on 7 May 2009 for participating in the candlelight vigil; · YB Elizabeth Wong; · President of the Malaysian Bar, Ragunath Kesavan; · the arresting officers; · the police photographers and videographer; · the investigating officer, the DSP, the Deputy OCPD and the OCPD ACP of Brickfields police station; · the lawyers who made police reports following the arrest of the five lawyers; and · the five lawyers themselves.
11 Sept 2009	SUHAKAM issued a significant decision, that Section 14(1)(a) of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999 grants it “the power of recording statements of witnesses, whether they are civilians or police officers”.

We would like to invite Members of the Bar and pupils in chambers to attend the inquiry on the date of the oral submissions, 20 March 2010, to show support to the five lawyers and also to protest against the wrongful arrests of lawyers during the course of carrying out their professional duties.

For more information, kindly contact Adilah Ariffin by telephone at 03-2031 3003 ext. 160 or 03-2034 2071, or by email at adilah@malaysianbar.org.my.

Set as favourite

Email This