“Your Majesty,
Reporters Without Borders, an
organisation that defends press freedom worldwide, would like to draw
your attention to the case of Raja Petra Kamaruddin, a journalist also
known as “RPK,” who is charged under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in
connection with articles posted on his Malaysia Today blog and who now faces the possibility of being imprisoned again.
In the speech you gave today, you
described the younger generation as Malaysia’s hope and future. RPK is
a model of the free speech this generation should enjoy.
The way the federal court in Putrajaya
is conducting RPK’s case is travesty of justice. The court’s
impartiality is jeopardised by the fact that Augustine Paul, one of the
three judges on the panel handling the case, issued a ruling against
RPK in 2001 as a “threat to internal security.” RPK had posted comments
online that lambasted the judge for his role in Anwar Ibrahim’s
corruption trial - comments that were widely circulated on the Internet.
The decision by judges Nik Hashim Nik
Ab Rahman and Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin to reject a request by RPK’s
lawyers to recuse Judge Paul seems to be unconstitutional. Paul chose
not to remain in court to hear the application for his recusal, leaving
the other two judges. However, the law requires that such an
application by heard by three federal judges.
Since the start of this case, the
police and government officials have acted outside the law as
established by the constitution. RPK was jailed under the only section
of the ISA that allows the authorities to imprison a person without
giving their reasons. And the charges brought against him violated some
of his basic rights, including individual freedom (article 5.1),
freedom of expression (article 10.1) and freedom of religion (article
11).
Malaysia has ratified the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, so such violations of freedom cannot
continue. This situation threatens the rule of law in Malaysia and
offers an extremely negative image of your country internationally. In
the current context, it seems clear that this is a political manoeuvre
to silence RPK and put pressure on Malaysia’s civil society leaders.
We believe that it is your role, as
your country’s monarch, to defend your people and ensure respect for
their basic rights, while remaining completely neutral and independent
of any political party, as required by the constitution. This is why we
are seeking your help and why we ask you to ensure the withdrawal of
the appeal against RPK’s release and to prevent any other attempt to
detain him under the ISA.
These proceedings are a challenge which
Malaysia should take care to meet. A new hearing has been set for 23
February. We urge you, Your Majesty, to do everything in your power to
prevent any further judicial errors.
We trust you will give our request your careful consideration.
Respectfully.”
Source: www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=30330
