'The Court of Appeal will hear the appeal against a High Court judgment upholding the seizure and banning of Kim Quek’s book ‘The March to Putrajaya’ at 9am on March 17, Monday, at Court No 2, Second Floor, Palace of Justice, Putrajaya.
On Aug 19, 2010, the police swooped on bookshops across the country to confiscate my said book, which is a collection of my articles on current politics written over the period from 2005 to 2010. A month later, then-home minister Hishammuddin Hussein signed an order to ban the book on the grounds of it being “prejudicial to public order” and had the order gazetted on Sept 27, 2010.'
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The Palace of Justice in Putrajaya is where the top echelons of our Malaysian judiciary hear appeals against decisions of the High Court. It should be a paragon of justice where Malaysians seek, in cases where they think they had been unfairly treated or when they are unhappy with the lower courts' decisions. But besides the paradox of the different translation of the name into Malay ('Istana Kehakiman' instead of 'Istana Keadilan', which many people believe, for obvious political reasons), many Malaysians do not have full confidence in getting justice served here. Why?
As a layman, I was perturbed when an Umno lawyer was 'parachuted' into the judiciary and shortly made Chief Justice, a few years ago. It was obvious the powers that be could not be bothered about the possible adverse perception of the people nor worry over 'justice must be seen to be fair'. We are supposed to believe then CJ's promise that he will be fair. The Perak power grab hearings were under his watch and we all know most people in Perak were unhappy with what happened as well as the final court verdict.
Recently, Anwar Ibrahim was convicted in Sodomy II by the Court of Appeal; followed by Karpal Singh's conviction under the Sedition Act, for what he said relating to the Perak case. Both face possible disqualification as MPs, and we are being told that both cases were not politically motivated! In Anwar's case, the timing of the hearings, the speed at arriving at the verdict, and the unusual haste in sentencing which affected Anwar's candidacy at the Kajang by-election, had proven to all and sundry that it was politically motivated. Yet, we are being told otherwise, and we are supposed to accept it as the truth and should not be questioned. We actually can't question without flouting the laws.
I am also worried that the specially appointed lead prosecutor in Sodomy II, Shafee Abdullah, a high profile Umno lawyer, might be appointed the next Attorney General. Why? Because he was quoted to have boasted that he needed just 2 to 3 hours to nail Anwar. Is that becoming of someone who can be entrusted to be our next AG?
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On Aug 19, 2010, the police swooped on bookshops across the country to confiscate my said book, which is a collection of my articles on current politics written over the period from 2005 to 2010. A month later, then-home minister Hishammuddin Hussein signed an order to ban the book on the grounds of it being “prejudicial to public order” and had the order gazetted on Sept 27, 2010.'
More:
Will it get a fair hearing? I wonder.
The Palace of Justice in Putrajaya is where the top echelons of our Malaysian judiciary hear appeals against decisions of the High Court. It should be a paragon of justice where Malaysians seek, in cases where they think they had been unfairly treated or when they are unhappy with the lower courts' decisions. But besides the paradox of the different translation of the name into Malay ('Istana Kehakiman' instead of 'Istana Keadilan', which many people believe, for obvious political reasons), many Malaysians do not have full confidence in getting justice served here. Why?
As a layman, I was perturbed when an Umno lawyer was 'parachuted' into the judiciary and shortly made Chief Justice, a few years ago. It was obvious the powers that be could not be bothered about the possible adverse perception of the people nor worry over 'justice must be seen to be fair'. We are supposed to believe then CJ's promise that he will be fair. The Perak power grab hearings were under his watch and we all know most people in Perak were unhappy with what happened as well as the final court verdict.
Recently, Anwar Ibrahim was convicted in Sodomy II by the Court of Appeal; followed by Karpal Singh's conviction under the Sedition Act, for what he said relating to the Perak case. Both face possible disqualification as MPs, and we are being told that both cases were not politically motivated! In Anwar's case, the timing of the hearings, the speed at arriving at the verdict, and the unusual haste in sentencing which affected Anwar's candidacy at the Kajang by-election, had proven to all and sundry that it was politically motivated. Yet, we are being told otherwise, and we are supposed to accept it as the truth and should not be questioned. We actually can't question without flouting the laws.
I am also worried that the specially appointed lead prosecutor in Sodomy II, Shafee Abdullah, a high profile Umno lawyer, might be appointed the next Attorney General. Why? Because he was quoted to have boasted that he needed just 2 to 3 hours to nail Anwar. Is that becoming of someone who can be entrusted to be our next AG?
