More Police Reports Lodged Over Claims Of Judicial Interference

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Two more police reports have been lodged over judicial interference allegations contained in the affidavit filed by Court of Appeals judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer
The reports were lodged at the Petaling Jaya district police station this morning by Rafzan Ramli, 42, and Khairul Amal Mahmud, 38 - two of seven former student activists charged under Section 27(5) of the Police Act 1967 - over participation in a June 2001 protest against the now repealed Internal Security Act
Lawyer Michael Cheah later told reporters that the reports were lodged to call for further investigations following the allegations made by Hamid Sultan, who was a dissenting judge in a 2013 Court of Appeal's ruling against the seven student activists
"Recently, allegations have been made by one of the judges regarding, among others, the manner in which this particular appeal was decided
"The allegations are serious. They warrant a through investigation and a review of the decision in the appeal," said Cheah who referred to the decision made on Sept 4, 2013, to dismiss the students' appeal against their conviction
Cheah said the students had at the time filed their appeal on the question of whether Section 27(5)(a), read together with Section 27(2) of the Police Act 1967, was void for being inconsistent with Article 10(1)(b) of the Federal Constitution, which guaranteed a person's right to freedom of assembly
He said a three-member bench had reserved its judgement after hearing submissions and eventually ruled to dismiss their appeal
Hamid Sultan had at the time written a dissenting judgment in which he disagreed with two other Court of Appeal judges, deciding that the Section 27 provisions were unconstitutional
Cheah noted that Hamid Sultan in his minority judgment also stated that the conviction of the five should be quashed and the fines paid should be refunded
Following Hamid's exposé, Cheah said he also received instructions to file a judicial review against the 2013 decision
"We will file a judicial review as soon as possible," he said
Met by reporters, Khairul Amal expressed hope that justice could now be upheld and they would now have an opportunity to clear their names
"We are lodging this police report to urge an investigation on claims made by Hamid Sultan, which among others touched on our case
"Following the claims, I can say that my life was not as easy as others who completed their studies, and we want justice to be served," said Khairul Amal who was at the time in his second year of pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree at Universiti Malaya
He has since obtained a diploma from another local institution and is now working as a freelancer
Aside from Rafzan and Khairul Amal, the five others charged were Helman Sanuddin, Wan Sanusi Wan Mohd Noor, Nik Noorhafizi Nik Ibrahim, Ahmad Kamal Abdul Hamid and Zulkefle Idris
Following their arrests, the group then known as "ISA 7" were suspended from their studies, and it was reported that a magistrate court had initially acquitted them of the charge in April 2005
The case was however later sent back for trial by the High Court in November 2006 following the prosecution’s appeal
Three years later, the Magistrate’s Court on June 18, 2009, convicted five of them, fining them each RM3,900 in default of three months’ jail
The five then appealed against their conviction to the High Court but lost in January 2011, after which they filed another appeal at the Court of Appeal on constitutionality of the law they were convicted under
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday confirmed that the cabinet has agreed to the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry in response to Hamid Sultan's claims of alleged impropriety, corruption and interference within the judiciary. - Mkini

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