KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Bar Council vice-president Anand Raj has criticised police for their delayed response in permitting the “Walk for Judicial Independence”, which was scheduled for June 17, two years ago.
He said this during the cross-examination in the trial of the bar’s RM19,000 lawsuit against police at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today, before justice commissioner Gan Techiong.
He pointed out that the delay in obtaining permission from the Dang Wangi police headquarters posed a significant obstacle to organising the walk to Parliament.
The purpose of the walk was to submit a memorandum on judicial independence to the then deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.
He said that the permit letter, along with conditions, issued by Dang Wangi police chief Noor Dellhan Yahaya, was not given via fax or email, instead police contacted them by phone and requested a representative from the bar to collect the permit on June 16, 2022, just a day before the event.
“Throughout the entire process of dealing with the police, it became apparent to us that the conduct we were engaging in were frustrated rather than facilitated.
“The bar’s intention was only to assemble and walk in support of judicial independence. We were shocked (by the police’s response) as the bar had previously organised several assemblies and walks for justice, and we had never been stopped from walking,” he said.
When counsel Mohd Ashraf Abd Hamid, representing the police, questioned Anand about whether police had interrupted any of the four bar members, including himself, who delivered speeches during the event, Anand responded that there were no interruptions made by them at that time.
Anand rebutted the counsel’s assertion that the primary objective of the event should be submitting a memorandum to the deputy minister.
“It’s more than simply holding a microphone and delivering a speech. Freedom of speech and expression includes the march towards the Parliament that day, demonstrating our concerns about judicial independence.
“The denial of freedom of speech and expression had occurred through the actions of the police,” he said.
The bar was represented by Malaysian Bar Human Rights Committee co-chair New Sin Yew, while the police was represented by federal counsels Mohammad Al-Saifi Hashim, Muhammad Radzi Shah, and Mohd Ashraf Abd Hamid today.
On October 20, 2022, the bar filed a case in the high court, claiming that police had prohibited its march to Parliament, which resulted in the unlawful imprisonment of its members and a breach of their constitutional rights.
Besides Noor Dellhan Yahaya, the lawsuit named the Malaysian government, the Home Ministry, then Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, the police department, and Dang Wangi Criminal Investigation Department chief Nuzulan Mohd Din as the six respondents.
In addition to multiple court orders, the bar and the other four plaintiffs are requesting declarations that the government and police breached their rights under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA 2012), as well as their constitutional rights.
It is also reported that the actions of the police violated Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, which protects the freedoms of assembly, speech, and expression. This also breaches the right to liberty under Article 5(1), freedom of movement under Article 9, and the principles of equality and equal treatment under the law as outlined in Article 8(1).
The court has September 17 for trial to cross examine bar’s president Mohamad Ezri Abdul Wahab. – June 6, 2024