Teresa Kok

Press statement by YB Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh, Secretary of DAP Women and Member of the Parliament Select Committee on Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code on 22nd June 2006, Kuala Lumpur

I am disappointed with the comment by the Bar Council on the proposed new clauses that define aggravated rape to the proposed amendments bill on Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.

The Bar Council has criticised and objected to the proposed new paragraphs (f) and (g) recommended to be incorporated into section 375(2) as well as to the proposed new section 375A of the Penal Code in the proposed bill (more…)

by Beh Lih Yi and Ng Eng Kiat
Jun 21, 06 7:07pm
http://www.malaysiakini.com/print.php?id=52835
Malaysiakini

The Bar Council has objected to a proposed amendment that would see rape by persons in a position of authority being treated as an offence, saying women could easily abuse the provisions should a relationship turn sour.

The council is against the introduction of this offence because it is redundant and since existing law already defines rape as sexual intercourse against the will of the woman.

It is further of the view that other proposed revisions to the Penal Code are not clear enough in relation in defining the circumstances of rape.

Criminal law sub-committee chairperson V Sithambaram (left) said this could be easily abused by women when a relationship or marriage turns sour.

“This proposed amendment is obviously designed to appease women’s rights groups (who have been) insistent on such an amendment. Amendments are easy to make but the repercussions must be considered and innocent men may be easily accused of rape,” he said (more…)

by Pauline Puah, sun2surf.

The Malaysian Bar Council objects to the proposed Penal Code (PC) amendment that a male superior can be charged with rape even with the victim’s consent.

“The definition of rape will lead to innocent men being easily accused of rape,” said the Bar’s criminal law sub-committee chairman V.Sithambaram.

In a parliamentary roundtable on the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and PC organised by the DAP today (June 21, 2006), Sithambaram said the proposed amendment was obviously designed to appease women rights groups demanding such an amendment. (more…)

Hi friends, I am in New Zealand attending a MPs’ conference on population now.
The time here is 4 hours ahead of Malaysian time, it is Saturday night now and the
whole city is soooo quiet. I can’t sleep so early, so I try to put a few interesting emails
and articles which have been sent to me earlier to my blog, just in case some of you
have missed them earlier.

teresa

Of Ignorance, Impunity & Insult to Injury by the IGP
by Martin Jalleh , 2nd June 2006

The police force in Bolehland has very ironically lived up to its name it
carries out its supposed duty with brutal “force”. Sadly, such mindless
aggression is seemingly condoned and even commended by Inspector General of
Police Mohd Bakri Omar whose pathetic justification adds insult to injury.
Below is an open response to the IGP’s comments made in a Malaysiakini
interview on the violence demonstrated by the police when breaking up a
peaceful demonstration of about 500 people in front of the Kuala Lumpur City
Centre (KLCC) on 28 May, protesting against the price hikes in fuel and
electricity. Alas, very little has changed since Pak Lah took over.

Mohd Bakri: “The police have got a job to do (and) they were merely doing
their job. I defend the action of my officers and men…”
Is it the job of the riot police to run riot? Is it your job as the
Inspector General of Police to defend your men without “inspecting” and to
“generalise” so as to cloud the truth!

Mohd Bakri: “How serious are they? I don’t know how serious they are…” (in
response to Malaysiakini’s feedback that “a few of them were seriously
injured”).
Without knowing the seriousness of the situation you insist on defending
your men! Are you really serious about being the IGP of this country?

Mohd Bakri: “The police have been tasked into looking after law and order
that’s our basic function.”
There was law and definitely a lot of order when the public demonstration
and protest began… until the police created the chaos by clubbing the
dispersing protestors.

Mohd Bakri: “If you refer to section 33 of the Police Act, which is
available in the major bookstores in town, then you should know our
function.”
If you refer to the Federal Constitution, which is available in the major
bookstores in town, then you should know our function as citizens of this
country.

Mohd Bakri: “If people start going to the streets, demonstrate, and if the
police do nothing about it, it will affect the flow of traffic, it will
threaten the safety of the location.”
In the first protest on March 3 when your men allowed a peaceful
demonstration, the flow of traffic was normal though some slowed down to
honk in support of the demonstrators! No one felt unsafe.

Mohd Bakri: “If it is a business centre, then people will shy away (from
it), people will not go to that premise anymore and it causes a lot of
disturbance to the peace.”
For many foreigners, public protests in their country are a daily affair!
What frightens tourists most, Mohd Bakri, is the sight of baton-wielding
police unleashing their violence on innocent people like the protestors.

Mohd Bakri: “So we have a job to do, and my men have a job to do, and that
is why they advised (the protestors) ... (to) get this group to disperse. In
the course of it – if you go ahead and confront the police…”
The citizens of this country have a job to do too. The protestors were doing
what everybody including your men and their families should in fact be
doing protesting against price hikes that would gravely affect all of our
lives.

(more…)

Lim Kit Siang is seeking appointment with Pak Lah on IPCMC. Below is his statement today:

Media Statement (2) by Parliamentary Opposition Leader and DAP MP for Ipoh
Timur Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Friday, 21st April 2006:

Seeking appointment with Abdullah on IPCMC —improper pressure by police
and a group of vocal UMNO MPs who do not represent majority of BN MPs
==================================================

I have faxed to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who
is also Internal Security Minister, asking for a meeting on the proposed
Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

I am very concerned that the Prime Minister is backing down from his
public commitment to accept this key recommendation of the Royal Police
Commission as a result of improper pressure by the police as well as
vocal support by a group of UMNO MPs who do not represent all or even the
majority of the Barisan Nasional MPs, especially BN MPs from Sabah,
Sarawak as well as other BN component parties, such as MCA, Gerakan and
MIC.

Unfortunately, the Sabah, Sarawak, MCA, Gerakan, MIC MPs, as well as the
more level-headed and rational UMNO MPs, seem to have been overawed and
bullied by the group of vocal MPs into silence, although in their heart
of hearts they know that IPCMC is good for the people, country and the
police themselves.

IPCMC is not a party issue as it concerns the best interests of the people
and country to have a clean, incorruptible, professional, human
rights-sensitive world-class police service. It is not to run down or
humiliate the Police but the contrary, to enhance police image and
credibility to enjoy public confidence as the neighbourhood friends of
the people.

It is not meant to selectively discriminate against the Police, as the
time has come for Malaysia to uphold good governance by introducing a
system of Ombudsman to subject all government departments and enforcement
agencies to external oversight mechanisms. In this sense, an IPCMC will
be like a Police Ombudsman (as it is called in some other countries) but
with “teeth”.

The failure to establish the IPCMC will itself be a most adverse
reflection on the establishment of the Royal Police Commission and the
delivery of Abdullah’s reform pledge and programme.

The Royal Police Commission is a feather-in-the-cap for Abdullah, proof of
his political resolve to “walk the talk” to effect reform. It would be
most unfortunate and tragic if the Royal Police Commission ends up as the
symbol of the failure of his reforms, because of the police success in
hijacking the policy-making powers on the issue by “turning over” the
support the group of vocal UMNO MPs.

– Lim Kit Siang – http://limkitsiang.com – http://blog.limkitsiang.com

Below is an interesting article written by a SUHAKAM commissioner published in NST today, she analysed the challenges faced by SUHAKAM, the need of ombudsmen for civil service as well as IPCMC. Do you agree with her?

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Thursday/Columns/20060420083835/Article/index_html

What kind of watchdog do we really want?
20 Apr 2006
By: Ranita Hussein
————————————————————————————————————————Debates on creating an ombudsman centre on whether it should be an alternative to the IPCMC and what powers the new body should have. RANITA HUSSEIN offers some pointers.

EVER since the proposal was mooted for the creation of an ombudsman, a debate has raged as to whether the ombudsman should be set up as an alternative body to the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) recommended by the Royal Commission of Enquiry.

A pertinent observation made in the debate was that the ombudsman should have “teeth” and not replicate the efforts of existing bodies. In the wings stands the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), an existing independent body, bearing the label, “no teeth”. What repercussions would the creation of an ombudsman have on Suhakam and vice versa? Indeed, how relevant is Suhakam to the ombudsman debate?

The IPCMC was a significant response to the reports of police abuse and misuse of power by various individuals and organisations to the Royal Commission. One such report came from Suhakam.

In 2004, out of a total of 1,342 complaints lodged by the public to Suhakam, only 721 cases were classified as relating to human rights. The rest were mainly complaints of inefficiency and inaction by government agencies, including the police.

Of the human rights-related complaints against government agencies, the majority involved the Immigration Department and the police. Complaints against the police ran- ged from allegations of abuse of power to police violence to deaths in custody.

At this point , it is instructive to examine further the criticisms levelled against Suha- kam, if only to discover the defects that should not be repeated when establishing the IPCMC or an ombudsman.

(more…)

Press statement by YB Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh at Kuala Lumpur on 12th April 2006

Is Michael Chong’s Motive to Defend the Corruption and Abuses in Police Lock-up and Add Salt to Wounds of Madam Ching Pik Wai?

I regret very much with Michael Chong’s coming out to discredit Madam Ching Pik Wai’s testimony on her humiliating experience in the Dang Wangi Police Lock-up on March 11, 2006 again and again. The similarity in both press conferences is that Michael Chong has twisted and turned the facts and misled journalists and members of public, thus blurring the crux of the issue that was brought up by Madam Ching.

On his press conference dated April 7, he said Madam Ching has never mentioned of pulling ears in the police lock-up to him when she first came to see him but she said it in the press conference with me, so he was doubtful of her statement, as such he claimed that they are inconsistent. The point is, Madam Ching has never mentioned to him that she has been asked by the police to do “ear pulling”. She has clearly stated in her police report that Sergeant Samsiah had asked Madam Ching to give her ATM card as well as the PIN number, if not Madam Ting will be asked to do ear-squat. The photograph shown by Michael Chong in his press conference was the photo published in Guang Ming Daily on April 2nd. That was the posture requested by the photographers during the press conference with me on April 1. This shows that Michael Chong has intentionally or unintentionally misled the press and the public.

After Madam Ching and I have rebutted him in our press conference on April 9 where Madam Ching demanded him to apologise to her for making false accusations against her, Michael Chong again called press conference on April 10 where he showed CCTV recordings to prove that he has attended to Madam Ching and her husband for 8 minutes. The CCTV recording actually doesn’t mean anything because Madam Ching and her husband had admitted from the beginning that both of them have met with Michael Chong and his assistant Novena Ting on March 16, but Madam Ching did not communicate with Michael Chong as she cannot converse in English, but she just told the problem she faced at SOGO supermarket to Novena Ting in Chinese, and her husband Walter Lim was the one that spoke to Michael Chong and requested MCA’s legal assistance to her case in SOGO.

Michael Chong then cited the interview of Mustafa, the CPO of Kuala Lumpur that was published in Nanyang Siang Pao on April 4 that Madam Ching has written a letter to the police to ask for forgiveness from the police. The actual interview in Nanyang Siang Pao dated April 4 is, Mustafa said Madam Ching has written a letter to plead guilty to SOGO after she was arrested, then only the police recommended to DPP to drop charges against her. The issue now is Madam Ching denied she has written letter to SOGO, as she doesn’t understand English and Malay language, it is impossible for her to write a letter to SOGO to plead guilty. She said she was asked by Sergeant Tohmeng to sign on a form on March 28th to settle the misunderstanding with SOGO, but she was not given a copy of the form that she signed. Again we see that Michael Chong made his accusation without checking facts with Madam Ching but just based on a media article, which did not quote her reaction at all.

Michael Chong Used Tactics to Diverting Attention

I am very disappointed with Michael Chong for his series of baseless and untrue criticism against Madam Ching who has gone through so much agony with the police. In the first press conference, Michael Chong twisted and turned the fact based on the “ear pulling” photo posed by Madam Ching. How can Michael Chong doubt her story in open just because she did not reveal the maltreatment and humiliation that she experienced in the police lock-up to him when she and her husband first met him on March 11? Is he jealous that Madam Ching kept the most shocking part of her painful experience to me and not to him that he has missed the opportunity for media publicity, or has he been used by certain quarters to divert the attention and sympathy of the public to Madam Ching’s account in the police lock-up? (more…)

Rebuttal to Unjustified Accusations Made by Michael Chong in His Series of Press Conferences Against Madam Ching Pik Wai (Based On Malay Mail News Reports)

Michael Chong’s Accusation Against Madam Ching Pik Wai on April 8, 2006

i) Michael Chong said Madam Ching told him was forced to pirouette in the nude for two policewomen and had her money stolen while in remand for shoplifting.

ii) Michael Chong said Madam Ching never mentioned about the story of ear-pulling at police lock-up to him when she first met him, so he was sceptical of the woman’s claim.

Madam Ching’s Response during the press conference on April 9, 2006 (Sunday),

a) She has never spoken to Michael Chong personally as she cannot converse in English and Malay. It was her husband Walter Lim who spoke to Michael Chong briefly. She just explained what happened at SOGO to Michael Chong’s assistant Novena Ting in Mandarin.

b) Walter Lim said he has spoken to Michael Chong briefly by asking him whether the MCA lawyer can help them to resolve their misunderstanding with SOGO supermarket.

c) Walter Lim and Mdm Ching never mentioned to Michael Chong about the maltreatment faced by Mdm Ching at police lock-up because the main worry at that time was the problem in SOGO, and not the humiliation at the police lock-up.

d) Madam Ching never said she was asked by the police to do “ear-pulling”. She just said in her police report that she was threatened by Sergeant Samsiah at the police lock-up that she will be asked to do “ear-squats” if she refused to give her ATM card and PIN number. She was asked to pose by the photographers to pull her ears during the press conference dated 1st April 06 and this photo published in Guang Ming Daily. Michael Chong used this photo to accused Mdm Ching wrongly.

Michael Chong’s Accusation Against Madam Ching Pik Wai In His 2nd Press Conference on April 11, 2006

i) Michael Chong showed the CCTV recordings to the media to prove Madam Ching and her husband have met with him and spoken to him.

ii) Michael Chong has listened to Madam Ching’s claim ¨C that she was asked to pirouette in the nude for two policewomen and had her money stolen.

iii) Michael Chong has spent 8 minutes with them.

iv) Michael Chong quoted an interview in Nanyang Siang Pao dated April 4 that Madam Ching has written a letter saying that she was guilty and asked for forgiveness from the police.

Madam Ching Pik Wai’s Response On April 12, 2006

a) Madam Ching has never denied she and her husband have met with Michael Chong on March 16, she has not spoken to him personally but she told the story in SOGO to Michael Chong’s assistant. Michael Chong then came for a while and her husband spoken to him in both Mandarin and English. Her husband had requested legal assistance from Michael Chong on her problem with SOGO.

b) She has never told the humiliation experience at the police lock-up to Michael Chong.

c) She has never written any letter to the police to ask for forgiveness from the police. On 28th March, she was asked by Sergeant Tohmeng to sign on a form at SOGO to settle the misunderstanding.

(Correction: CPO of Kuala Lumpur Mustafa in his interview in Nanyang Siang Pao dated April 4 said Madam Ching has written letter to SOGO to ask the company to release her, so that she can turn a new leave. Madam Ching claimed that she has never written such letter to SOGO, but she was only asked by Sergeant Tohmeng to fill up a form at SOGO on 28th March 2006)

(more…)

Dear friends,

Please support the petition to establish Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) & movement towards a better police force.

http://www.petitiononline.com/betterpf/
To: The Malaysian Government
I/We the undersigned:

1. Commend and support the Prime Minister for having, in the past two years, set up two Commissions of Inquiry to look into matters concerning the Police; illustrating the Government’s concern for a better society, greater openness to views and criticisms, and the willingness to have a more open and honest appraisal of our institutions.

2. Urge that the above trend be continued, and the pace of reform be hastened.

3. Commend the chairman and the commissioners of these 2 Commissions for the sound and useful recommendations that they have put forward.

4. Believe that the recommendations of the Police Commission are comprehensive and balanced; as they do not merely focus on the conduct of the police, but also address problems faced by the police force, their terms of service, as well as issues such as human rights, crime, and corruption.

5. Believe that full regard must be had to the recommendations of the 2 Commissions, set up in the public interest and using public funds, which recommendations have been made after extensive fact-finding and research, and which recommendations will ensure best practices by the police force.

6. Believe that it is imperative that our nation immediately implements all the major recommendations of the 2 Commissions, including, in particular, the setting up of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

Sincerely,

The Undersigned