PUTRAJAYA: Two members of the six-man independent advisory panel on the Bersih 3.0 rally have asked to be excused.
Panel chairman Tun Haniff Omar said former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim had opted out due to health issues while Petronas corporate affairs senior general manager Datuk Mohammad Medan Abdullah was too busy.
“Replacements will be decided by the Government in the near future,” Haniff said after chairing a panel meeting here yesterday.
He said during the meeting, the panel was briefed by the police on their version of events surrounding the rally on April 28 and viewed a 40-minute video showing the behaviour of the participants and the ensuing property damage.
Haniff said that although the police had 43 video clips totalling 73 hours of footage of the rally, the panel would only view those that could shed more light on areas that they were unclear on.
He stressed that the panel's work would not be a duplication of Suhakam's ongoing inquiry into the rally.
“Suhakam's terms of reference focus solely on the abuse of human rights.
“Our terms of reference are the 10 points that we announced earlier which cover a wider inquiry. We are not limited to just human rights violations,” he said.
The Malaysian Bar, he said, was expected to meet the panel despite its initial misgivings.
Haniff said the Bar told him that it was prepared to meet him to work together in getting to the bottom of the issue.
“For the greater good of the country, we will also call for a meeting with the Bar Council,” he said, adding that it was the Bar itself that initiated the move to open discussions with the panel.
“It's up to them. Even though they (council members) said I should not be leading the panel, they have said they are willing to meet with us,” he added.
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