The Malaysian Bar - Bar deplores arrest of orang asli, lawyer

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Bar deplores arrest of orang asli, lawyer

Tuesday, 31 January 2012 08:44am

©The Sun Daily (Used by permission)
by HEMANANTHANI SIVANANDAM

PETALING JAYA: The arrest of 13

orang asli from theTemiar tribe and a

lawyer in Gua Musang last Saturday

has irked the Malaysian Bar.

Its vice-president Christopher

Leong said the arbitrary arrest of the

orang asli, who had gathered

peacefully to protest the illegal

encroachment of loggers on their

ancestral lands, reflected irresponsible

policing by enforcers of the law.

“This example of irresponsible

policing reflects poorly on the police,”

Leong said in a statement yesterday.

He said although the Temiar had

been assured that the state authorities

would resolve their problems by mid January, the alleged intrusions have

continued.

The Malaysian Bar also condemned the arrest of orang asli rights lawyer Siti Zabedah Kasim, who was in Gua Musang as the Temiar community’s legal counsel, calling it “unjustifiable and illegitimate”.

Leong said preventing Siti Zabedah from executing her duties as a lawyer deprived the arrested Temiar of legal representation, which was a clear breach of their rights under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.

“The deprivation of liberty, denial of the right to legal representation, and detention of a lawyer in the course of

her duties are gross violations of the rule of law and of constitutionally protected fundamental liberties.”

According to Leong, the police reportedly burnt down the blockade before arresting the Temiar. They also prevented family members of those arrested from accompanying them to the detention centre.

“The detained Temiar were said to have been denied food and legal representation, and questioned for several hours before being released,” he added.

Leong also urged the Kelantan government to respond to the plight of the Temiar community and to fulfil its

duty to preserve the Temiar’s ancestral lands, livelihood and heritage.

Kamal Alek, 27, one of those arrested, told theSun the Temiar community resorted to such measures as it wanted to send a message to the state government. “We have brought the matter up with the state government, lodged police reports and even brought the matter to court but the illegal logging is still happening.”

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