APSN | Nothing wrong with tagline 'Rakyat hakim negara'

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Nothing wrong with tagline 'Rakyat hakim negara'

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Malaysian Judiciary has been marred with controversies since the sacking of Tun Salleh Abbas, then the Lord President of the Supreme Court and the suspension of 5 senior judges in 1988 to save Mahathir's UMNO.

After Tsunami 2008, Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim made an open apology to the sacked judges on behalf of the Government and called the government's action "inappropriate". The Prime Minister then Abdullah Badawi also announced ex gratia compensation for the sacked and suspended judges.

The Judiciary has yet to regain the trust of the people and the blame should go to no other that the ruling Party for its constant intervention and maneuvering in the Judiciary. It is because of this, that PSM feels that the tagline "Rakyat Hakim Negara" (People are the nation's Judges) is an appropriate tagline, captures the mood of the people and there is nothing wrong in it.

PSM calls upon the police to respect the rights of the people to Assemble peacefully on 9 January. Nobody should be prevented from attending court on 9th. January as it is an open court verdict. Any attempt by the police to prevent people from attending court is a violation and obstruction of Justice. We do not need to remind the police everytime on freedom of Assembly, Constitution rights as well as cite the Human Rights Charter.

In recent years, there seems to be a new trend where we see how PERKASA, UMNO and its Organisations, file many police reports before every major public assemblies. This seems to be latest tactics to build enough excuses for the police to clamp down on peaceful assemblies. PSM believes that in any democratic society, supporters of Anwar as well as opposition to him should be given the right to assemble peacefully and the police role is to merely discuss with the organizers to ensure that these assemblies can proceed without incidents.

It seems that the Police have not learned from the BERSIH experience and continues to trample upon the rights of the rakyat. The Rakyat and PSM will not be cowed by this latest police warnings and threats. It is ultimately the will of the people which will bring about any change in society, not the wills of tyrants and corrupt Governments.

Released by:
South Arutchelvan
Setiausaha Agung PSM