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Three Hindraf
leaders arrested
©The
Sun (Used by permission)
by R. Surenthira Kumar
KLANG (Nov 23, 2007): Three officials of the Hindu
Rights Action Force (Hindraf) were charged in the Sessions Court here this
afternoon for sedition, shortly after they were arrested. They pleaded not
guilty.
Hindraf adviser P. Uthayakumar, his brother P. Waythamoorthy (who is Hindraf
chairman) and V. Ganapathy Rao -- who are all lawyers -- were charged with
uttering seditious words at a restaurant in Batang Berjuntai on Nov 16 this year
under Section 4 (1) (b) of the Sedition Act 1948.
Attached to the charge sheet was a nine-page translation of a speech delivered
by Uthayakumar in Tamil on that day to a crowd.
A crowd of about 400 supporters gathered at the court complex as they were being
charged. They chanted some slogans loudly, making it difficult for the
proceedings to be heard.
As the prosecution only produced the charge at about 4.45 pm, Sessions Judge
Zunaidah Mohd Idris extended the court hours to 6pm.
She had her hands full during the proceedings as a war of words broke out
between defence lawyer R. Kanghadaran and the lead deputy public prosecutor
Ishak Mohd Yusoff when another defence lawyer M. Manoharan told the judge and
accused the prosecution of deliberately bringing a late charge so that the three
accused would not be able to post bail.
After the prosecution told the interpreter to read the charges, Manoharan said
the charges were unclear as it did spell out the seditious words in Tamil, and
as such it was flawed and baseless.
Ishak however countered that the prosecution could make amendments later.
Manoharan however objected, saying the prosecution was not ready and police had
not done a complete investigation, and as such, the charges should be dropped.
The judge however allowed the amendment to be made later, as the basic elements
of the charge were there.
The defence later introduced Amer Hamzah Arshad, a representative of the Bar
Council, asking the court to allow him to hold a watching brief on behalf of the
Bar.
The prosecution objected, saying he had no locus standi. However, the judge
allowed it.
Another defence lawyer A. Sivanesan argued that under the Criminal Procedure
Code, since the charge was not specific, it should be dropped and the three men
should be released. He said the prosecution could file fresh charges on Monday.
On bail arrangement, the prosecution offered a sum of RM2,000 each but the
defence asked for RM1 only, as they have difficulty raising such a high amount.
The judge then set bail at RM800 each in cash since banking hours were over. She
set Monday to re-mention the case.
After initially accepting the bail amount, Waythamoorthy later objected and said
he would remain in policy custody as a sign of protest. On the way out, he
insisted on being hand-cuffed and the request was granted.
The hat was passed among the supporters to raise bail and a total of RM3,244 was
collected.
Earlier, during the case, the police warned the crowd to disperse but the
supporters ignored it. There was no untoward incidents and they left quietly
after the case was over.
Three arrested over planned Hindraf rally
R. Surenthira Kumar
PETALING JAYA (Nov 23, 2007): Police have arrested three key officials of
the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) that is planning to go ahead with a mass
rally on Sunday outside the British High Commission in Jalan Ampang although
police had rejected their application to do so.
They are expected to be charged under the Sedition Act later today.
The three men are:
> Hindraf adviser, lawyer P. Uthayakumar, who was picked up
at his office in Bangsar at about 10.30am
> Hindraf chairman, lawyer P. Waythamoorthy (Uthayakumar's
brother), who was arrested at the Shah Alam toll plaza about 3pm
> V. Ganapathy Rao, who was arrested when he went to the
Selangor police headquarters to see Uthayakumar about 2.45pm
Lawyer N. Surendran went to Selangor IPK in Shah Alam about 2.45pm when
Uthayakumar was taken there by a police team. He was accompanied by Ganapathy
Rao and Parti Keadilan Rakyat supreme council member S. Manickavasagam.
However, when Surendran came out 20 minutes later, he told reporters that
Ganapathy Rao had been arrested as well.
He said he was informed by a police officer with the rank of Assistant
Commissioner that the three men would be charged in Klang later today.
Outside the IPK grounds, about 200 people had gathered and when the police car
carrying Uthayakumar drove past the gate, shouts rang out and some rapped on the
car window. Several empty mineral water bottles were also thrown at the car.
On Monday, a police team had raided Uthayakumar’s law office with a warrant, in
search of a publication that he had authored. They found nothing there.
Simultaneously, another team searched Waythamoorthy's office in Seremban, Negri
Sembilan, where some 2,500 booklets, pertaining to a suit that Hindraf had taken
against the British government, were seized.
Hindraf planned Sunday's gathering to hand a memorandum addressed to the Queen
of England to support a class-action suit against Her Majesty’s government for
bringing Indians to Malaysia as indentured labourers and exploiting them for 150
years. It is seeking RM27.7 trillion in compensation. According to
Manickavasagam, the rally will go on despite the arrests.
Yesterday, for the second day running, police security checks at a number of
roads into Kuala Lumpur caused traffic congestion.
Earlier today, lawyer M. Manoharan told theSun police had served him,
Uthayakumar and several other Hindraf officials a restraining order to stop them
from participating in the rally.
Police got the order from the Kuala Lumpur magistrate’s court, which also
restrains all Hindraf supporters from participating in the gathering, which
police said could disrupt public order.
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