T-shirt trio found in contempt The Straits Times
Singapore -Three men who wore T-shirts depicting a kangaroo dressed in judge's robes were found to be in contempt of court after a day-long hearing yesterday.
Justice Judith Prakash adjourned the hearing shortly after making her decision so the men could decide if they wanted to apologise and withdraw the insinuations they had made about the courts.
But the trio - full-time national serviceman Muhammad Shafi'ie Syahmi Sariman, 20; Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) assistant secretary-general John Tan Liang Joo, 47; and activist Isrizal Mohamed Isa, 33 - refused to do so after the 15-minute break.
Muhammad Shafi'ie cited 'personal convictions'. Isrizal said he would not apologise as he had no intention of impugning the court and did not think wearing a T-shirt would amount to that.
Tan refused to apologise as he believed his actions were about fair criticism.
Justice Prakash said she could not agree with him and adjourned the hearing till Thursday when she will deliver her verdict on their sentence.
The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) initiated contempt of court proceedings against the trio for having 'scandalised the Singapore Judiciary by publicly wearing identical white T-shirts, imprinted with a palm-sized picture of a kangaroo dressed in a judge's gown, within and in the vicinity of the New Supreme Court Building'.
They wore the T-shirts between May 26 and May 28 at the Supreme Court.
This was when they attended hearings before Justice Belinda Ang to assess defamation damages that the SDP, its leader Chee Soon Juan and his sister Chee Siok Chin had to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.
At yesterday's hearing, Deputy Solicitor-General Jeffrey Chan sought stiff jail terms and cited two reasons.
Firstly, the worst insult that someone can level against the judicial system is to call it a kangaroo court, he said.
The term is generally understood to mean a court that is characterised by unauthorised or irregular procedures, or sham and unfair legal proceedings.
Secondly, the men's refusal to apologise reaffirmed their contempt of court.
Mr Chan urged Justice Prakash to pass a sentence that would denounce such a show of contempt and deter others from acting in the same way .
The men argued separately that they had no intention of publicising their actions, which they said were merely a form of self-expression.
They instead blamed The Straits Times for giving their actions wide publicity through a photograph in its May 27 edition showing them in the T-shirts.
Isrizal also said the image on the T-shirt was not a kangaroo. He said the animal was a wallaby and added that someone asked if it was a chihuahua.
Tan also denied making the remark, 'This is a kangaroo court', as MM Lee walked past him outside Court 4B.
Mr Chan said that while Tan denied making the remark, he did not deny evidence that he pointed to the kangaroo image when MM Lee walked past him.
Tan also did not deny that he committed contempt of court 'by posting or acquiescing in the posting' of an article on the SDP website on July 27 about the trio being questioned by police.
That article included a photograph of the trio wearing the T-shirts.
The court was also shown closed-circuit TV footage of Tan distributing the T-shirts, and of the T-shirt-clad trio being photographed by the media at the entrance to the Supreme Court building.
Although they argued that they were taking personal photographs and tried to stop the media, Mr Chan noted that they stood before the media for 26 seconds.
'If they were that keen not to be photographed, one would have expected they would have walked away as soon as pressmen gathered,' he said.
Monster says: I suppose a judiciary that has to resort to this really has no other serious cases to preside over. I guess its a break from bankrupting people. But to time it to 26 seconds, I salute the parties concerned for their analness. Congratulations on bringing more attention to your ridiculous pettiness.
In one of the longest cases in Malaysian history, justice has finally come for Irene Fernandez, although I am still adamant that this should never have happened in the first place.
A name today that does not roll off the tongue as freely as PRK or Uthuyakumar, yet she has been the bastion of Tenaganita - the main NGO that speaks for migrant workers and against the trafficking of women.
In an office that overrun with case folders and low income wage earners that spills out into the landing at times, her tiny team still records cases of abuse, misuse and heartbreak, and negotiate endlessly with employers, embassies, government agencies and the police. Powers that be who usually don't take to being criticised openly. Which of course was exactly what Irene had done and got her arrested and embroiled in a court case that has lasted almost 13 years.
Anyway an except from Wiki:
Irene Fernandez (*1946) is the director and co-founder of the non-governmental organization Tenaganita, which promotes the rights of migrant workers and other oppressed and poor people in Malaysia. They had been given the promise of getting support for their families at home by the rich, but instead, they got cheated and had to suffer malnutrition, torture and sexual abuse.
In 1995, Irene Fernandez published a report on the living conditions of the migrant workers. She was arrested in 1996 and charged with 'maliciously publishing false news'. After seven years of trial, she was found guilty in 2003 and imprisoned for one year. She was later freed on bail but her passport is held by the courts and, as a convicted person, she was barred from standing as parliamentary candidate in the 2004 Malaysian elections. Despite her restricted civil rights, she carries on her everyday life and continues her work.
In 2005, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "her outstanding and courageous work to stop violence against women and abuses of migrant and poor workers".
The public has been urged to show their support by showing up in court and draw support from friends and family. The mass media in Malaysia are not expected give full coverage on the news due to tight control by the authorities.
This little ditty in today’s papers caught my attention.
Pahang govt recruits pensioners as bloggers
TEMERLOH: The Pahang Government has appointed three pensioners as bloggers to thwart slanderous comments and allegations posted on the Internet.
State Information, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin said the bloggers, who would be paid allowances, would be provided with computers and the Internet access in their homes.
The pensioners can capitalise on their experience to explain the actual situation to the people besides providing feedback and opinions to the Government, he told reporters after attending the Senior Citizens Day organised by the Pahang Chapter of the Malaysian Government Pensioners’ Association here on Sunday.
“More bloggers will be appointed. We value pensioners’ thoughts in our efforts to improve the state’s economy and prosperity and unity of the people,” he said. – Bernama
Monster says: You mean these would be bloggers don’t even have internet or even computers at home? So they have become net savvy at the cyber cafés issit?
And what slanderous comments and allegations are the Pahang government referring to? And actual situation? I think the only party that is way out of touch with the actual situation is the one proposing this. And oh, isn’t it trite that one has to blog to provide feedback and opinion to the government? And why la they didn't put in the url of those blogs. I'd have fun. I am so mean.
