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Gaze 1:
The People’s Parliament
We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers – Emmeline Pankhurst
An ounce of courage, a few good men, and the prayers of the good people of this nation
By Haris Ibrahim
November 7, 2008
A few days ago, in answer to the question, ‘How should a judge endear him / herself to the Bar’ that was posed in cyberspace, I offered this, in response :
‘Treat lawyers with the same courtesy that the judges themselves expect be shown to them, hear impartially and devoid of any bias, and decide according to the law, without fear or favour.
No more, no less’
He returned the courtesy that counsels in attendance showed to the court, and heard all parties with the impartialiity and the absence of bias that his office called for.
After that hearing, when asked by some media people to speculate on the outcome, i had said that an ounce of courage in the right place when judgment is delivered may well see justice done.
For those who were in court, His Lordship’s pronouncement of the following words was music to the ears; the balm that soothed away the pain of the last 55 days of having a friend and a patriot taken away from us.
‘…Dan adalah juga diperintahkan bahawa satu Writ Habeas Corpus dibenarkan dan pemohon diperintahkan untuk dibawa ke Mahkamah dengan serta merta tidak melebihi jam 4.00 petang hari ini untuk dibebaskan dengan serta merta’
This morning’s order of the court, in pdf, is linked below, for those of you who might want to download the same and frame it up. I know I’m going to.
habeas-corpus-order-7-11-08
His Lordship rejected the argument that section 8 of the ISA is unconstitutional.
Was he right?
Respectfully, I think not, but that is a debate that will have to be argued on another day before another court.
And it will be argued on another day because, contrary to what has been said and insinuated of late, there still are good men at the Bar who will, in keeping with the highest traditions of the Bar, continue to pursue the ideals of a free and independent people of this good nation.
To these warriors, I say that your selfless pursuit of justice will never be forgotten. We, as a nation, are indebted to you.
And to all of you who have continued, in the last 55 days, to hold up the light of hope and belief, and will continue to do so until every ISA detainee is freed and ISA is no more, have I told you lately that I love you?
No?
Well, I do.
See you all on Sunday, 9th November, 2008 at 9.30pm at the Ampcorp vigil.
Posted by Haris Ibrahim
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Gaze 2:
RPK’s Release: A Tapestry of Thoughts and Emotions
By Art Harun @gazerofnavels.blogpsot.com
Saturday, November 8, 2008
After having a “super kow” Nescafe tarik at the Pelita restaurant near the Shah Alam Court, I drove back to my office in Kuala Lumpur for a lunch appointment. RPK was ordered to be released about an hour before. I was elated. I was emotionally drained. I was satisfied.
The scale of what Imtiaz, myself and the battery of lawyers involved in the RPK’s habeas corpus application had managed to achieve had however yet to fully sink in. On the Federal Highway, I received calls after calls and text message after text message. News traveled fast in these days and age. Barely 45 minutes after the order was made, for example, an old schoolmate of mine called from Kedah to congratulate me. He said he saw the news on TV.
I was pumped up with adrenalin. I was oblivious to whatever things which were happening around me. The slow Friday crawl on the Federal Highway gave me time to really ponder and reflect at what had just happened in Court that morning. But the main feeling was one of disbelief.
It was when the coffee lady was serving me coffee in my office that the full magnitude of it all began to sink in. The whole office had known of the RPK case was won earlier. In-house e-mails were sent to everyone in the firm as soon as my secretary received the news from me. I took a sip of the hot coffee. The coffee lady stood there, not leaving my office as she would usually do after putting my obligatory mug of coffee on my desk. I looked at her. She smiled.
“Boss, you menang itu Botak punya kes ah?”, she asked.
Before I could answer, she followed up, “saya tadak tau Boss buat itu kes. Itu Botak sekarang sudah keluar ah? Itu macam bagus ah…”
The “Botak” was of course RPK. There she was, a coffee lady, who could barely speak Malay or English, whose function in my office was to serve all of us coffee, twice a day, expressing her happiness that the “Botak’s” case had been won!
I said, “ya, itu Botak nanti petang mau keluar”.
She smiled and walked towards the door. Almost thankful to me. Almost grateful to me for making her day.
At that moment, it all sank in.
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Raja Petra Kamaruddin aka RPK.
I did not know him. Although I knew of him, by virtue of the fact that his web site, MalaysiaToday, is a site I visit everyday. Neither have I ever met him. Before yesterday (7th November 2008), that is.
I received news about the policemen visiting him at his house to pick him up under the ISA rather early. It was around 12.30pm. I called up Harris but his mobile was not turned on. So, I called up Imtiaz.
Imtiaz confirmed the news and told me that Harris was either on his way to RPK’s house or already there. The feeling that I had then was one of disbelief. And that feeling quickly transformed into one of anger. If a government had to resort to a detention without trial in order to “protect the country from a security threat” caused by all but ONE person, than that government does not deserve to govern. It was a blatant abuse and misuse of power. An abuse which was reflective of the government’s inability – or unwillingness? – to engage the people in connection with every grievance which the people had. An abuse which was reflective of a governmental mindset that did not respect criticisms; did not listen to the voice of its own soul, ie, the people which it sets out to govern; did not give 2 sen to the people’s rights and freedom. An abuse which was vile. And depraved.
I quickly told Imtiaz that he could consider me to be on board with whatever legal maneuvers which were deemed necessary to procure a quick release of RPK.
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Marina Lee was like a Goddess. She would stand outside the Court, holding the hand of her two daughters; hugging and shaking the hands of RPK’s supporters and well wishers; smiling to the crowd and answering questions from the reporters with a degree of calmness that belied the enormity of the situation.
After the hearing in the morning of 22.10.2008, she was waiting for me at the lobby of the Court. I have been introduced to her at Imtiaz’s office the week before. And I had, by then, grown to be accustomed with her poise, her calmness and her patience. She was a towering lady of steely nerve. As I came down the stairs of the Court lobby, she came to me. She held my hand and looked me into the eyes and said, “can I give you a hug?” I said “of course”.
She stepped forward and gave me one of the most memorable hugs I would ever have. She held me for some time and said, “thank you”. At that moment I suddenly felt the pressure and the weight of the task that has been thrust on me, Imtiaz and the whole team. I felt proud. I felt sad. All at the same time. And deep down in me I was asking myself, “what would I do if we lose the case?”
I did not think I would have the heart to face Marina in that situation.
Yesterday, (7.11.208), I had a drink with RPK and Marina’s daughters at the Court canteen while waiting for RPK to be produced in Court. Two lovely daughters he has. Intelligent, smart, fully aware of the situation concerning their father and Malaysia as a country. They were calm. Although beneath their eyes, I could detect the waves of emotions running through their veins while waiting for RPK to appear. “Is he going to be re-arrested?”, they asked.
I looked at them and almost in an indiscernible voice, I said, “I don’t think so.”
The truth was that I didn’t think I would be able to stay sane had that happened.
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He was produced in Court at about 3.25pm. He looked haggard. And tired. I stole a moment to take a picture of him sitting on the Court bench waiting for his freedom to be officialised.
He was soft spoken. And the look of his face said it all. I approached him. Imtiaz was talking to him and I was later introduced to him. Finally, I was meeting my client. He looked at me, took my hand and I said, “Ungku, I am Azhar”.
He smiled and he hugged me. A hug which I would not forget. A hug of a free man. His tears were streaming down his cheek. He looked around, as if he was measuring freedom. “How are you, Ungku?”, I asked.
“I am just relieved. Thanks to you. I don’t think I would be able to last another day there”, he said.
“You know, last Saturday, Marina came to see me at the camp. I told her next Saturday I don’t want her to come to the camp anymore. I want to be home with her by then. And you know, yesterday I was allowed to wander around the solitary confinement block. I was looking at Bukit Larut from inside the camp. I was telling myself, tomorrow I want to look at Bukit Larut from outside of the camp”, he said with a smile.
“Well Ungku, your prayer and wish have been granted”, I replied.
With that I moved to the Bar table. The Judge came in and His Lordship officially noted RPK’s presence in Court. His Lordship then set him free. The crowd in the public gallery gasped in disbelief. Somebody was about to break into an applause but remembering what the learned Judge had said in the morning, the applause was halted.
Just as the learned Judge retired into his chambers, Marina and her two daughters stood up and grabbed hold of RPK. There they were. Four of them, lost in their own little world, hugging each other while tears flowed freely even among those in the public gallery.
Freedom. Free from a purely abusive and tyrannical act of a government which feared it’s own shadow. Free from the clutches of an impotent executive, whose bravery was only limited to executing acts of blatant cowardice against its own people.
Freedom.
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I arrived at La Bodega at around 5pm. It was supposed to be a celebration of sorts. But when I walked into the Lounge upstairs, the air was subdued. Imtiaz was sitting in front of me. Reflective. Brooding even.
RPK made an appearance later in the evening. Again he thanked me. I had to tell him that I think it was the learned Judge and the Court which were the real heroes of the day. It was the learned Judge’s courage that had won RPK’s freedom. He was courageous.
I took a picture of him again. Just look at him and compare to the picture of himself in the Court a couple of hours earlier. Look at how fresh he appeared to be in the red t-shirt. And look at the smile. And that focus in his eyes.
That’s what freedom could render to a human being.
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RPK’s release meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
To RPK and family, it would be the joy of regaining freedom and liberty. Of being with each other once again. Of enjoying togetherness, which was so abruptly and wrongly taken away from them, once again.
To the lawyers – me included – it was about the satisfaction of being able to contribute to the attainment of freedom and liberty of a person. It was also about a fight against repression. I was glad to be a part of it all. And to leave a small mark in Malaysia’s pursuit of a just and fair society, a society which is able to live freely and without fear of oppression.
But the real hero, as I had said earlier was the Court and the learned Judge, His Lordship Dato’ Syed Ahmad Helmy bin Syed Ahmad. While we travel in this dark age of uncertainty, he shone like a beacon.
The tyrannical regime of Dr Mahathir Mohammad had taken away judicial power from the Court by amending the Federal Constitution. They had tried to usurp the power of the Court by ousting its power of review over ISA detentions.
But yesterday, the Court, through Justice Dato’ Syed Ahmad Helmy bin Syed Ahmad, rose to reclaim it’s position as the ultimate balancer; the ultimate dispenser of justice and the ultimate institution which would check and balance out the abuses and excesses of the executives.
Yesterday was a day the Court, the peace loving people of Malaysia and justice embrace each other and walk alongside each other on the same road.
The road to liberty.
Posted by art harun