High Court: Hisham’s order to declare Bersih illegal ‘tainted with irrationality’

September 06, 2012

File photo of the July 9, 2011 Bersih rally in Kuala Lumpur. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — Inconsistencies in the behaviour of the authorities led to a High Court decision here to quash Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s order declaring Bersih 2.0 an unlawful society on the grounds that his decision was “tainted with irrationality.”

“It cannot be a case that a society is a threat to public security on 1.7.2011, and then no longer so soon after that... I hold the view that the decision in finding Bersih unlawful is tainted with irrationality,” High Court judge Rohana Yusuf said in her grounds of judgment made available to The Malaysian Insider today.

On July 24 she had ruled Bersih 2.0 a legal society and quashed the minister’s order made last year just a week before last year’s July rally for free and fair elections.

The loose coalition of 62 registered civil societies led tens of thousands to demand for free and fair elections in the capital city on July 9 last year, which resulted in some 1,600 arrests but ultimately resulted in the government agreeing to set up a bipartisan parliamentary polls panel.

Prominent lawyer and former Malaysian Bar president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and 13 of her colleagues in Bersih’s steering committee had in July last year filed a judicial review seeking to get the Barisan Nasional (BN) government to lift its July 1, 2011 ban of the movement.

In her judgment, Rohana pointed out that after Bersih had been declared unlawful, the minister’s representatives subsequently negotiated with the movement’s leaders on how and where the planned rally should be held.

Ambiga, she said, had also been granted an audience by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Instead of being subjected to the various provisions in law in tandem with its pronouncement as an illegal society, the judge noted that the events after the ban showed the opposite happened.

“In the upshot the conduct of the respondents in dealing and handling Bersih soon after it being outlawed in fact does not reflect Bersih as an unlawful society, but it connotes something else.

“It does not at all reflect the conduct of persons who found the society to be used for the purposes prejudicial to the interest of the security of Malaysia and public order,” Rohana said.

She noted that the reason of public security for declaring Bersih illegal could not have changed in a matter of days.

“The respondent (home minister) cannot be blowing hot and cold at the same time.

“However, if the reason of public security had since ceased then the declaration should be lifted accordingly.”

Apart from Ambiga, the 13 other leaders named in the court filing are Maria Chin Abdullah, Datuk Toh Kin Woon, Zaid Kamaruddin, Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, Arul Prakkash Sinnappan, Haris Fathillah Mohamed Ibrahim, Andrew Khoo Chin Hock, Liau Kok Fah, Wong Chin Huat, Datuk Yeoh Yong Poh and Yeo Yong Woi.

The group has since held another rally on April 28 this year to push for electoral reforms to be enforced before the 13th general election is due.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/high-court-hishams-order-to-declare-bersih-illegal-tainted-with-irrationality/

高庭撤销內长指令；净选盟合法

2012-07-24 18:41

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  律师公会代表邱进福（前排右起）、净选盟2.0督导委员会成员玛丽亚陈和净选盟联合主席拿督沙末赛益，以及成员拿督杜乾焕（前排左3）对高庭宣判净选盟2.0为合法组织感到欣慰。（图：星洲日报）

（吉隆坡24日讯）净选盟2.0挑战大马政府成功！

高庭今日撤销內政部长拿督斯里希山慕丁把净选盟2.0列为非法组织的指令。

数十名出庭聆审的民眾，包括以净选盟联合主席拿督沙末赛益为首的净选盟指导委员会成员在闻判后，开心得互相拥抱祝贺，並在休庭后高喊“Bersih”庆祝；净选盟另一名联合主席拿督安美嘉则因身在国外，无法与大家分享这份喜悦。

代表內长及大马政府等3造的高级联邦律师阿兹占透露，他们將会在諮询总检察长丹斯里阿都干尼的意见后，才决定是否向上诉庭提出上诉。

指內长决定受“不合理”污染

承审本案的法官拿督罗哈娜尤索夫今日发表书面判词时说，內长把净选盟2.0列为非法组织的决定已遭到“不合理”的污染。

她说，內长在去年7月1日以净选盟2.0“危害国家安全”而宣佈把净选盟2.0列为非法组织，但过后却继续与净选盟2.0进行谈判，其中安美嘉更得以在7月5日覲见国家元首，並於7月9日如期进行大集会后没有受到任何法律对付，这样的做法根本显示不出净选盟2.0將会危害国家安全的严重性。

“我认为，净选盟2.0被指危害国家安全的理由，不可能在短短一星期后就变得无效了。”

內长对待净选盟不一致

法官在其长达30页的书面判词中指出，若內长或有关当局果真认为净选盟2.0的行为將危害国家安全，当局就应表现出与其决定一致或相符的做法，不过，內长对待净选盟2.0的方式却恰恰与其决定相反。

法官认为，內长表现出与其决定不一致的举止，只有两种可能性，即净选盟2.0可能因危害国家安全而被列为非法组织，但在一星期后却又不再是一种威胁，或內长在宣佈净选盟2.0为非法组织前，並没有充份考虑到相关的实据或考虑了一些不相关的实据。

“单凭这项理由，我认为有关决定是受到不合理的污染，且理应被撤销。”

法官：草率列非法组织
內长侵犯净选盟权利

儘管高庭已撤除了净选盟2.0被列为非法组织的罪名，惟法官认为，在1965年社团法令下第2条文下，净选盟2.0可被定义为一个“社团”，而內长更有权力把净选盟2.0列为非法组织。

她说，有关条文把公司、政党、俱乐部、伙伴公司、多於7人的暂时或永久团体等定义为社团，换言之，净选盟2.0是在1965年社团法令的管辖范围內，因此，內长的决定並没有任何越权的成份。

內长希山慕丁是於去年7月9日前，基於调查发现净选盟2.0並非正式註册的组织，以及將在社群中製造不安，而援引1966年社团法令第5条文宣佈把净选盟2.0列为非法组织。

法官认为，在净选盟2.0被列为非法组织后，从处理、接洽到和净选盟谈判，內长皆表现出不一致的態度。

內长不应草率作决定

“民眾安全是一项非常严重的课题，而净选盟2.0被列为非法组织后，不可能受到如此‘轻’的待遇。”

法官指出，內长把净选盟2.0列为非法组织的决定，侵犯了净选盟2.0在联邦宪法下所赋予的权利，更不应草率作这个决定。

法官说，內长的决定是一项根据社团法令所作出的“法律决定”，这项决定对申请人的权益有直接的影响，因为有关决定可导致他们在社团法令下被控。

沙末赛益：內长破坏声誉
高庭为净选盟平反

骯脏（Kotor）变乾净（Bersih），净选盟2.0终在高庭获平反！

沙末赛益指出，他对高庭今日的裁决感到很欣慰，因为高庭已为净选盟2.0平反。

他补充，內长根本不应把净选盟2.0列为非法组织，因为这白白浪费了很多的政府人力资源、时间与金钱。

他在休庭后召开新闻发佈会时说，內长的决定不仅破坏了净选盟2.0的声誉，让净选盟2.0看起来“骯脏”，更製造许多不必要的恐惧，让许多人对净选盟2.0却步，並害怕给予支持。

他说，首相拿督斯里纳吉及有关当局抨击在麦加和麦地那举行“净选盟3.0集会”

的大马人民欠理智，並指责那些人几乎导致沙地阿拉伯政府禁止大马穆斯林前往麦加朝圣，是试图要把净选盟“骯脏化”。

他强调，从高庭的裁决来看，民眾可清楚看见政府当局在一些决策上的矛盾之处，如允许净选盟举行428静坐大集会。

净选盟2.0是否成合法组织
阿兹占净选盟各置一词

阿兹占强调，高庭的裁决並不意味著净选盟2.0迄今已被视为一个合法的组织。

他说，高庭的裁决只是让净选盟2.0返回其“原状”，並强调，若净选盟2.0想要“合法化”本身的地位，就必须向社团註册局正式申请註册。

不过，净选盟2.0指导委员会的代表律师之一山姆甘在休庭后却表示，高庭的裁决，已意味净选盟2.0是合法的。

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新闻背景 凈选盟要求撤销非法组织指令 以安美嘉为首的14名凈选盟指导委员会成员是於去年7月8日入稟高庭，他们在申请书中要求撤销內政部长援引1966年社团法令第5条文把凈选盟列为非法组织的指令，或要求高庭宣判內政部长的决定是非法和理应被撤销的。 除了安美嘉外，另13名申请人分別为阿末法鲁慕沙、阿鲁峇拉卡斯、阿鲁慕甘、哈里斯、邱进福、廖国华、玛丽亚陈阿都拉、苏巴马廉、拿督杜乾焕、黄进发、拿督杨映波、杨永威和再益卡马鲁丁；內政部长、全国总警长和大马政府在申请书中，被列为第一至第三答辩人。 高庭於去年9月28日基於14名申请人所提出的申请並非无聊、琐碎的，所以同意发出准令给凈选盟2.0指导委员会的14名成员，以让他们上庭挑战和检討內政部长把凈选盟列为非法组织的指令。

来源：http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/255371?tid=1

Bersih leaders say vindicated by court ruling it legal

By Debra Chong and Mohd Farhan Darwis

July 24, 2012

(From left) A file photo of the Bersih 2.0 steering committee including Dr. Subramaniam Pillay, Arul Prakkash, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, Datuk Dr Toh Kin Woon, Maria Chin Abdullah and Dr Wong Chin Huat.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — Bersih 2.0 leaders whooped with joy after a High Court ruled the electoral reform lobby group is a legal society today, overturning Putrajaya’s order to outlaw it last year in a move likely to raise further its public profile in the run-up to key national polls due soon.

Prominent lawyer-activist Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, who co-heads the 82-member group, told The Malaysian Insider she was “delighted” by the court ruling today to quash the federal government’s declaration outlawing Bersih in July last year.

“I have just heard the good news that the learned judge of the High Court has quashed the order of the minister that had declared Bersih illegal. Naturally, I am delighted by this outcome,” she said in a text message immediately after the court decision.

“In my view, the decision accords with my understanding of the law in relation to the making of such decisions by those in power,” she added.

Instead of wasting public funds on suits against Bersih, [the government] should spend more effort and give recognition to…what the citizens who have come out to demonstrate for clean and fair elections have been calling for. — Maria Chin Abdullah

Ambiga, who is currently abroad, thanked her legal team and supporters for standing by the group, which has been persistently branded an outlawed group by the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition ahead of the 13th general elections that could see a regime change in Malaysia for the first time since independence in 1957.

Ambiga has also been singled out by pro-establishment personalities and repeatedly attacked over her vocal calls for the electoral roll to be cleaned of dubious entries before polls are called, now widely speculated to take place in September after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.

An Umno federal lawmaker had last month suggested in Parliament that the award-winning civil rights fighter be hanged for treason, capital punishment reserved for the most serious crimes. Sri Gading MP Datuk Mohamad Aziz’s remarks drew strong support from fellow BN MPs but was widely criticised by opposition legislators and civil society groups, sparking a national furore.

Bersih co-chairman, Datuk A. Samad Said, told reporters he was relieved the group had been cleared of its “illegal” tag.

“It’s a waste of time, energy and resources and the order saying we are illegal should not be made again,” said the national laureate who attended today’s court hearing at the Duta Court Complex here, in an immediate reaction.

In her ruling today, High Court judge Datuk Rohana Yusof said the coalition of civil societies known as Bersih 2.0, though not officially registered, can be considered a society under the Societies Act.

“The minister’s order is quashed because Bersih is a lawful society,” Rohana said.

Maria Chin Abdullah, who is among Bersih 2.0’s 14-member steering committee, told The Malaysian Insider the court decision vindicated the group’s push for electoral reforms.

Bersih co-chairman, Datuk A. Samad Said, told reporters he was relieved the group had been cleared of its “illegal” tag. — file pic

“Instead of wasting public funds on suits against Bersih, they should spend more effort and give recognition to freedom of assembly and what the citizens who have come out to demonstrate for clean and fair elections have been calling for.

“That would be a democratic way of responding to the court ruling and to prove their commitment to electoral reforms,” she said, referring to the federal government that has initiated a civil suit against members of Bersih’s steering committee to claim RM122,000 in compensation for damage caused to public property in the national capital during the group’s latest rally on April 28 this year.

The government’s unprecedented suit has been fixed for case management on August 10 at the High Court.

Chin Abdullah said Bersih was still getting many reports highlighting various discrepancies in the electoral roll and cited as examples voters who say their voting stations have been switched without their approval while migrant workers have been listed as voters in the roll, creating doubt over its validity.

“These issues have to be resolved before the 13th general elections,” she said.

“The SPR does not seem to be moving on these issues,” she added, referring to the Election Commission by its more popular Malay initials.

The Najib administration had agreed to set up a bi-partisan parliamentary polls panel on electoral reforms last year but is seen to be dragging its feet in enforcing the measures.

The loose coalition of civil societies has led tens of thousands in public demonstrations for clean elections, drawing the world’s attention to Malaysia’s electoral process at a crucial chapter when Southeast Asia’s fourth largest economy is attempting to break through the middle-income trap and graduate into the ranks of first-world nations amid a global economic slowdown.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/bersih-leaders-say-vindicated-by-court-ruling-it-legal/

法官裁定内政部长不合理，净选盟洗脱非法组织恶名

作者／翁慧琪 2012年07月24日 10:49 am

净选盟2.0（BERSIH 2.0）挑战内政部指令成功，得以洗脱“非法组织”恶名！高庭法官指出，内政部长在去年宣布净选盟为非法组织后，却与净选盟会面讨论集会地点和召开方式等，认为内政部长当时宣布非法组织的指令是不合理的。因此，她宣布撤销内政部长的指令。 【本刊翁慧琪撰述/摄影】净选盟2.0（BERSIH 2.0）挑战内政部指令成功，得以洗脱“非法组织”恶名！ 吉隆坡高等法庭法官罗哈娜（Rohana Yusof）今天针对内政部长去年宣布净选盟2.0（BERSIH 2.0，简称净选盟）为非法组织指令的司法审核申请，宣判批准净选盟的申请。 罗哈娜表示，内政部长在去年宣布净选盟为非法组织后，却与净选盟会面讨论集会地点和召开方式等，认为内政部长当时宣布非法组织的指令是不合理的（irrationality）。因此，她宣布撤销内政部长的指令。 来源： http://www.merdekareview.com/news_v2.php?n=26009