mStarOnline : 'Bisikan diraja' untuk Pakatan

RAJA Muda Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah menitahkan sesuatu kepada Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin (PAS-Pasir Panjang) dan Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (DAP-Setiawan) setelah kedua-duanya dititahkan menghampiri baginda selepas Nizar dilihat menyatakan sesuatu dari bahagian tengah Dewan sejurus baginda berangkat masuk. Insiden itu berlaku sebelum Raja Nazrin Shah merasmikan pembukaan mesyuarat pertama persidangan penggal kedua Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Perak di Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan, Ipoh hari ini. --fotoBERNAMA

(mStar Online) - Pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat Perak yang mempersembahkan protes berhubung insiden Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) hari ini kepada Raja Nazrin Sultan Azlan Shah, telah dinasihatkan bahawa raja tidak boleh mencampuri soal politik.

"Raja Nazrin memaklumkan bahawa baginda meletakkan penghormatan yang tinggi terhadap saya dan Datuk Ngeh Khoo Ngam (bekas Exco Kanan semasa kerajaan Pakatan) dan memaklumkan bahawa Raja berada di atas politik (tidak mencampuri soal politik)," kata bekas Menteri Besar Perak, Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.

Sebaik sahaja Raja Nazrin memasuki DUN yang terletak di bangunan SUK, anggota Pakatan Rakyat berkumpul di tengah Dewan, mengelilingi tempat duduk bentara, untuk menyampaikan rasa tidak puas hati terhadap apa yang berlaku termasuk Speaker V. Sivakumar diangkut keluar dari Dewan.

Nizar mempersembahkan kepada Raja Nazrin bahawa pihaknya tidak berpuas hati dengan cara Sivakumar diperlakukan dan anggota polis dibawa masuk ke DUN.

Ketika Raja Nazrin memasuki DUN kira-kira 50 anggota polis berada dalam Dewan.

Apabila dibangkitkan oleh Nizar, Raja Nazrin mengarahkan semua anggota keluar.

Majlis perasmian hanya bermula selepas Sivakumar, Speaker dilantik Pakatan tahun lalu, dibawa keluar oleh pasukan polis.

Sivakumar tidak berganjak dari tempatnya sejak pukul 10 pagi tadi.

Nizar menyatakan demikian pada sidang media selepas sidang DUN ditangguhkan sebaik sahaja Raja Nazrin menyampaikan titah diraja perasmian petang ini.

Raja Nazrin yang sepatutnya merasmikan sidang itu pukul 10 pagi tadi hanya berbuat demikian 3.17 petang.

Baginda tidak dapat berbuat demikian selepas Sivakumar sejak pagi tadi bertegas sidang DUN tidak akan diadakan selagi 10 anggota termasuk Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry tidak keluar Dewan.

Tiga lagi termasuklah ADUN Bebas yang menyokong BN sekarang.

Bagaimanapun mereka tidak keluar Dewan manakala BN pula mengadakan sidang dalam sidang DUN.

Kemuncak insiden hari ini ialah Sivakumar diganti dengan bekas ADUN Sungkai, Datuk R. Ganesan dan diangkut keluar kira-kira 2.45 petang tadi.

Pada sidang media itu, Nizar berkata, pada hakikatnya tidak ada persidangan kerana perintah awal Speaker tidak diikuti. "Jelas lihat hak Speaker tidak dipatuhi dan dirampas," kata beliau yang ditemani Sivakumar pada sidang media.

Sivakumar yang ditahan dalam sebuah bilik berhampiran DUN dilepaskan selepas majlis perasmian.

Kata beliau, DUN Perak telah dilacur dengan begitu dahsyat dengan kerja-kerja yang keji dengan menggunakan orang luar.

"Kami menghormati Raja Muda dan saya dititah oleh Tuanku mahu bekerjadengan Pakatan Rakyat, apa yang BN buat usul dalam dewan semua itu tidak laku dan sah kerana telah ditolak sejak semalam lagi.

"Apa yang dibuat oleh BN iaitu menidakkan Speaker telah menghina Dewan, cukup mengaibkan. Kemasukan orang luar satu tindakan yang tidak bertamadun," katanya.

Mengulas lanjut isu itu, "saya iringi Tuanku keluar dan Tuanku mengatakan baginda mahu bekerja dengan Pakatan Rakyat."

Mengenai tindakan susulan, Nizar yang Timbalan Pesuruhjaya PAS Perak menambah:

"Kita mahu DUN Perak dibubarkan, kerana kerajaan sekarang tidak sah."

Kata Nizar, beliau akan memohon menghadap Tuanku untuk tujuan tersebut dalam waktu terdekat.

Ketika ditanya sama ada akan mengambil tindakan undang-undang, Nizar berkata, pasukan peguam pihaknya akan meneliti soal itu.

Bernama : Appointment of new speaker breach of convention

(Bernama) - Despite the chaos that reigned at the six-hour Perak assembly sitting today, a new speaker was appointed and four motions were passed.

And the appointment as well as the motions passed was all valid, according to Umno Legal Advisor Datuk Hafarizam Harun and lawyer Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah who represents the Barisan Nasional (BN) government in court cases the ongoing Perak constitutional crisis.

The four motions were to remove V Sivakumar as the speaker; to appoint former Sungkai assemblyperson Datuk R Ganesan as the new speaker; to appoint new state committee members and to declare the "under-the-tree" assembly illegal.

Hafarizam said the removal of former speaker Sivakumar was valid as the motion was filed more than 14 days before the sitting and therefore it had to be deliberated and decided on in today's sitting.

"Under the Standing Orders, any motion brought more than 14 days must be tabled for the Dewan to be decided upon.

"Article 36A (1) (b) stipulates that in the absence of a speaker, the deputy speaker shall preside until the appointment of a new speaker, and Hee (Yit Foong) filled in so it was a proper appointment," he told Bernama when contacted after the sitting today.

On the Pakatan coalition's claims that the assembly was illegal, Hafarizam said there was royal consent for the sitting and the meeting had also been gazetted.

"Furthermore, BN has 31 votes and the simple majority rule dictates that the motions passed today are all valid as was the sitting," he said.

He said Article 72 of the Federal Constitution also gave immunity to the sitting and the motions passed under the Dewan today cannot be challenged in court.

Sivakumar had earlier argued that the suspension of Menteri Besar Datuk Zambry Abdul Kadir and his six BN executive councillors was made in his capacity as the chairperson of the privileges and the special rights committee and not as the speaker.

As the Federal Court decision was based on his standing as a speaker, the matter was inapplicable, he claimed.

Muhammad Shafee said Sivakumar's claim was invalid because the latter issued the show cause letter to suspend Zambry and the six BN councillors in his capacity as a speaker.

"It was also because he was the speaker that he was able to occupy the position of chairperson (for the committee) so it is all tied up," he rebutted.

Muhammad Shafee said in any case, the Speaker cannot suspend any members of the Dewan for more than a day.

"He has to refer it to the assembly in order to get it properly done, he did not do that and the court had ruled the "sitting" under the tree as invalid," he said when contacted today.

Muhammad Shafee also brushed off Sivakumar's claim that the three "BN-friendly" independent representatives should not be attending the assembly as there was a legal suit by Sivakumar against them still pending in court.

"The Election Commission (had decided they still held their positions in the Dewan) and even the court had ruled that they never resigned, because it was a pre-signed (resignation) letter which was legally invalid," he said.

It's invalid

Meanwhile, constitutional law lecturer from the International Islamic University Assoc Prof Dr Sharahayu Abd Aziz said that in order for a new speaker to be appointed, the motion to remove him must be heard and then deliberated upon.

However, she said, the motion was rejected by the speaker and was therefore invalid.

"It shows us how much power is given to the Speaker, so much so that he can refuse to hear the motion.

"This is similar to the Dewan Rakyat when Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim puts forth numerous motions, but if the speaker does not want to hear it, he (Anwar) has no choice but to sit down and keep quiet because the hearing of the motions have been rejected, so the final word is with the Speaker," she said.

On the immediate appointment of the new speaker, Shamrahayu said there was no provisions in the Standing Order that detailed whether or not it was permissible.

She said normally, the appointment would take place after a deliberation by the Dewan and in another ceremony.

"In constitutional law, what is the normal practice should be followed, so I am inclined to say that this is a breach of convention," she said.

RPK : It’s all about race, stupid!

Oh, no! Not another ‘stupid’ article from RPK. Sheesh…….it’s getting to be very boring. If it’s not about Altantuya, it’s about stupid this or stupid that.

Yes, I pre-empted what you are going to say and said it first. So there!

But that is just the thing. It is about race. And if you thought it is about anything else then you are plain dumb and deserve to be called stupid.

Oh, I forgot, I am talking about what happened in Ipoh today. And what happened in Ipoh is about race. It is about ensuring that the Malays do not lose political power. And, as far as Perak is concerned, as far as Umno is concerned, Perak has fallen into the hands of the Chinese.

Did DAP not win the most number of seats in Perak? And is not DAP a Cina-Kominis party that wishes to see the end of Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy and wishes to replace it with Meritocracy and a Malaysian-Malaysia? And is this not what Lee Kuan Yew also propagates for Singapore? And is not Singapore persecuting and discriminating against Malays? Are not Malays serving in the Singapore Armed Forces not allowed to even carry guns because the Chinese do not trust them? And is not Singapore the enemy of Malaysia who is illegally occupying Malay land that the British robbed from the Johor Sultanate?

Did PKR not win the second highest number of seats in Perak? And is not PKR a non-race-based party that wishes to see the end of Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy and wishes to replace it with Meritocracy and Ketuanan Malaysia? Are not only half the PKR Wakil Rakyat Malays while the other half are Chinese and Indians?

Did PAS not win the least number of seats in Perak? And is not PAS an Islamic party that classifies Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy as nationalism and discrimination and therefore haram (forbidden) -- and does it not support DAP and PKR in opposing Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy? Is not PAS the boneka (puppet) of DAP, and although the Menteri Besar is from PAS, DAP actually pulls the strings from behind the scenes?

Yes, that is what it is all about. That is why Pakatan Rakyat must be kicked out of Perak at all costs. That is why fairness, legality and the Constitution are no longer crucial. In the fight to uphold Malay Supremacy, fairness, legality and the Constitution must take a back seat. The ends justify the means. It is not how you play the game. It is winning, by hook or by crook, by fair means or foul, that counts.

If it were in Kelantan, Umno would not have dared do what it did in Perak today. If Umno tried to do the same thing in Kelantan as what it did in Perak today, blood would have flowed on the streets of Kota Bharu. By now, Kota Bharu would be under curfew. Widows would be claiming bodies at the mortuary and new orphans would be created. The plainclothes police officers in songkok would not have been able to drag the Speaker out of the State Assembly like a drunken cowboy in a Hollywood Western movie.

Did you see how the police officers dragged Siva out of the State Assembly? I did. And they were able to drag him out in such an undignified manner because he is an Indian-Hindu from Perak. If he had been a Malay-Muslim from Kelantan, they would never have done that in a million years. They do and parangs would fly. Heads of the Umno dogs would be scattered all over the roads of Kota Bharu.

Do I sound racial? Do I sound violent? Well, I hope so. Because that is exactly what it is all about. I do not mince my words. I do not hold my punches. This column is called No Holds Barred. And my article is therefore no holds barred.

I am disappointed about today. I am disappointed not because of what Umno did. I expected that from Umno. I knew that Umno would do that. What I am disappointed about is that Pakatan Rakyat did not hold their ground. Siva was dragged out of the State Assembly like a sack of potatoes. Yet no one did anything. No one jumped in and gave those goons a hard bash on the head.

I am also disappointed because the crowd was not a crowd. The people on the ground were mostly from out of Perak. Many were Bloggers and civil society movement activists. But they were not locals. They were not Perakians. Where were the local Perakians? They were not around. If they want to argue they could not get through because of the police roadblocks, then how could all those out-of-towners get through, in spite of the roadblocks?

There should have been blood spilled, today, in the Perak State Assembly. Violence must be met with violence. There is no other way. If they want to talk, then we talk. But if they want to use violence, then we match them with violence. And they violently dragged Siva out of the Perak State Assembly.

Siva should have been allowed to exit on his feet. Instead, he was dragged and thrown out like a drunken wino. Is that how a Speaker should be treated? Well, if he were Malay that would never have happened. If it were in Kelantan that would never have happened. But because he is an Indian from Perak then it can happen. And it did happen.

And you know what the icing on the cake is? Raja Nazrin graced the whole fiasco. He gave legitimacy to the entire circus in Ipoh today. His presence gave legality to what should have been illegal. Raja Nazrin’s decision to play along with Umno has hurt the Monarchy badly. It will take a long time for the Monarchy to recover from what happened in Perak today. In fact, it may never recover.

Raja Nazrin has just launched the debate on whether it is time that Malaysia abolishes the Monarchy and turns this country into a Republic. Yes, the Republic of Malaysia. I like the sound of that. I think I shall go along with that.

That is what Perak was all about, today. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Repeat after me: It’s all about race, stupid!

BN Rampas kuasa Speaker dalam dewan, Ganesan dicalonkan sebagai Speaker baru

ADUN BN sedang berkerumun adun Jelapang dalam dewan semacan sidang bawah pokok untuk cuba merampas kuasa speaker.

Keadaan menarik itu disaksikan oleh semua adun PR dan disaksikan oleh pegawai-pegawai kerajaan dan tamu yang hadir.

Dalam sidang "haram" mereka telah melantik calon yang dicadangkan bekas adun Sungkai, Ganesan.

10:10 pagi: Keadaan dalam Dewan Panas

source : http://idhamlim.blogspot.com/
Keadaan tegang dalam Dewan, suasana sangat kecoh, semua ADUN bangun. Sebentar tadi ADUN BN cuba mengemukakan usul Pecat SPeaker namun diumumkan oleh Speaker, Usul itu ditolak.

Sebentar tadi, Abdullah Antong Setiausaha Dewan yang digantung, dikerumuni oleh ADUN PR.Speaker juga mohon SUK tidak mencampuri urusan Speaker dalam Dewan.

10 orang masih belum keluar, Speaker mengatakan berulang kali Sidang tidak dimulai selagi 10 orang terbabit tidak keluar.

Malaysiakini.com : Zambry, 6 exco, 3 bebas diarah keluar

Persidangan DUN Perak yang dinanti-nantikan - menentukan hidup mati pentadbiran menteri besar Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin dan kestabilan kerajaan pencabarnya Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir - bermula seawal menjelang subuh hari ini apabila sekumpulan 200 penyokong PAS mengadakan solat hajat di Manjoi, beberapa kilometer dari pusat bandar Ipoh.

Berikut perkembangan terkini di Perak:

10.35am Kedua-dua kumpulan wakil rakyat BN dan Pakatan terus bertegang. Speaker terus mengulangi bahawa usul yang dibawa Zambry untuk menggantikan beliau terbatal dan tidak sah.

Speaker mengarahkan pengawal keselamatan dewan menghalau keluar tujuh wakil rakyat BN, termasuk Zambry, dan tiga bebas. Pengawal bagaimanapun enggan berbuat demikian.

10.20am Suasana kecoh di dalam dewan apabila kedua-dua kumpulan wakil rakyat BN dan Pakatan Rakyat masing-masing bangun untuk campur tangan keputusan Speaker, V Sivakumar.

Sekumpulan ADUN Pakatan menghalang setiausaha dewan Abdullah Antung - yang juga digantung tugasnya - duduk di depan Speaker untuk memulakan persidangan.

Mereka menggesa Abdullah agar tidak campur tangan dengan alasan beliau hanya seorang kakitangan kerajaan.

Tindakan itu mendorong wakil-wakil rakyat BN bangun dan turut berhujah. Kedua-dua pihak saling bertengkar dan menjerit-jerit. Suasana dewan menjadi tidak tentu hala.

Bagaimanapun tiada pergaduhan fizikal berlaku.

Menteri besar BN Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir cuba berkata sesuatu tetapi Speaker menjawab bahawa beliau enggan mendengarnya. ADUN-ADUN Pakatan juga cuba menghalang Zambry bercakap.

Menteri besar BN cuba membawa usul menggantikan Speaker tetapi ditolak.

10.19am Dua ahli parlimen Pakatan Rakyat ditahan polis berdekatan DUN Perak kerana memasuki kawasan larangan polis 500 meter dari bangunan tersebut.

Wakil rakyat PAS bagi Parit Buntar, Mujahid Yusof Rawa dan wakil PSM bagi Sungai Siput, Xavier Jeyakumar antara ADUN dan ahli parlimen pembangkang yang telah ditahan.

9.55am Speaker DUN V Sivakumar mengarahkan Menteri besar BN Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir dan enam exconya - yang digantung oleh jawatankuasa khas dewan tersebut - keluar.

Beliau enggan memulakan persidangan jika ketujuh-tujuh itu enggan mematuhi arahannya. Wakil-wakil Pakatan Rakyat menepuk meja sebagai tanda sokongan.

Tindakan tersebut bermakna Speaker - yang mempunyai kuasa tersendiri dalam cabang legislatif - tidak mengiktiraf keputusan mahkamah yang telah membatalkan penggantungan yang dibuat oleh DUN.

Sivakumar, yang mengetuai jawatankuasa hak dan kebebasan DUN Perak, juga mengarahkan tiga ADUN bebas meninggalkan dewan.

Ketiga-tiganya dianggap telah meletakkan jawatan awal Februari lalu, sebelum rampasan kuasa BN.

Wakil-wakil Pakatan Rakyat menepuk meja dan menjerit "keluar" ke arah 10 ADUN tersebut, tetapi mereka masih berdegil.

ADUN Pakatan dan BN masing-masing menjerit ke arah satu sama lain.

Speaker DUN terus mengarahkan 10 ADUN itu meninggalkan dewan. Kedua-dua pihak BN dan Pakatan masih saling jerit-menjerit ke arah satu sama lain.

9.45am Ketua Pemuda PAS Salahuddin Ayub, yang juga ahli parlimen Kubang Kerian, ditahan polis di belakang bangunan utama pentadbiran Perak - yang menempatkan DUN.

9.30am Raja Muda Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah tiba untuk memeriksa perbarisan di luar dewan DUN.

Kedatangan baginda disambut dengan rasa hormat semua ADUN Pakatan Rakyat, mereka semua berdiri, tidak seperti sikap mereka Menteri besar BN Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir yang menerima penghormatan itu.

9.24am Menteri besar BN Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir tiba untuk memeriksa perbarisan di luar dewan DUN sebelum pembukaan rasmi sidang.

Beliau berjabat tangan dengan Speaker DUN V Sivakumar, juga seorang ADUN DAP bagi Tronoh.

9.23am Bilangan anggota polis yang kebanyakan berpakaian biasa - dalam vest kuning bertulisan "polis" - semakin ramai di bangunan Umno.

Suasana tenang, helikopter kelihatan mengawal dari udara.

9.00am Ahli parlimen PKR-Ampang, Zuraida Kamaruddin [foto, serba hitam] dan ADUN Ayer Keroh (Melaka) Khoo Poay Tiong - yang ditahan - dibawa di dalam trak polis.

Mereka menjerit "1Black Malaysia", "bubar DUN" dan "reformasi."

8.50am Sekurang-kurangnya 11 orang ditahan polis, termasuk ahli parlimen PKR-Ampang, Zuraida Kamaruddin, ADUN Teratai (Selangor) Janice Lee [foto, tersenyum] dan ADUN Ayer Keroh (Melaka) Khoo Poay Tiong.

8.40am Semua lebih kurang berada di perkarangan lobi bangunan Umno Perak, beberapa kilometer dari bangunan DUN. Sepanduk yang direntang berbunyi, antaranya, "kami anti penderhaka, pertahankan hak rakyat, biarkan DUN bersidang dengan aman."

Mereka juga melaungkan "daulat tuanku."

8.35am Mohamad Nizar dan semua ADUN Pakatan masuk ke Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan. Semua pengawal peribadi mereka disekat masuk di pintu utama. Pemandu dibenarkan masuk.

8.30am Semua ADUN Barisan Nasional tiba di Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan dalam sebuah bas. Mereka disambut oleh sekumpulan penunjuk perasaan yang berpakaian hitam di luar bangunan tersebut - yang menempatkan DUN Perak.

Tiga orang ditahan polis, termasuk ADUN Ayer Keroh (Melaka) Khoo Poay Tiong.

7.55am Kira-kira 100 penyokong BN berkumpul di bangunan Umno, beberapa kilometer dari bangunan DUN Perak.

7.45am Kawalan keselamatan ketat di Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan - yang menempatkan DUN Perak - bagi menghadapi sebarang kemungkinan pada hari pertama persidangan yang akan dibuka secara rasmi oleh Raja Muda Perak.

RPK vs JJ

From the 12th to the 22nd September 2008, I was detained at the Police Remand Centre (PRC) where most ISA detainees spend their first 60 days of detention. Suddenly, on the morning of the 22nd, I was told that my interrogation, which was held from the 17th to the 21st, is going to end and that they have to finalise their report that same day.

That was the first surprise.

I was supposed to sign my statement the following day -- on the 23rd. Instead, I was packed off to Kamunting the morning of the 23rd without being allowed to sign the statement cum confession.

That was the second surprise.

What was it that the higher-ups were so scared about that they wanted to keep my confession cum statement from those who were supposed to review it and decide whether I can be released or should be sent to Kamunting for further detention? I really don’t know because they never told me.

Anyway, here is part of my interrogation by the Special Branch -- what they asked and what I replied.

The last time you were detained for 54 days, is that correct?

Yes, it was from 11 April to 6 June 2001. I think it was about 54 days.

You were not sent to Kamunting right?

That’s correct.

That’s because you cooperated. So if this time you also cooperate then there is a good chance you will also not be sent to Kamunting. You might be allowed to go home like the last time.

(I just nod)

We find your Statutory Declaration very hard to believe.

Why do you say that?

Well, we don’t think what you said about Rosmah being at the murder scene is correct.

How do you know?

It is highly unlikely. Rosmah is very rich. She has plenty of money. Why would she want to take the risk of going there personally? She can pay someone to do the job. No need for her to go there herself.

Well, that’s what I was told, that she went there personally.

We don’t think so. It doesn’t make sense for her to go there herself.

Okay, if you say so, but I know what I was told.

Who told you? Lt Kol Azmi Zainal Abidin. He is the number two in the Special Branch of the Military Intelligence.
Yes, we know who he is.

So, that means you can ask him yourself then since you know him.

But how do you know he was telling you the truth? He could be setting you up.

I admit I don't know Lt Kol Azmi that well. But he is always in Ku Li’s office. He is very close to Ku Li. And Anwar Ibrahim also knows him very well.

So you are not really that close to Lt Kol Azmi. That means you don’t know whether you can trust him. We feel he is setting you up as the fall guy.

Maybe if I had to just trust him then I wouldn't dare take that risk. I mean; I don’t know him well enough to trust him all the way. But the person who introduced us is a very old friend. I’ve known him for about 45 years, longer than I’ve known my wife. And I trust my friend. My friend gave me his personal assurance that the story is legit.

Who is that friend?

Nik Azmi Nik Daud. We call him Bull. He works for Ku Li. I also asked Din Merican to check with Anwar whether I can trust Lt Kol Azmi with my life. Those were the exact words I used.

What did Anwar say?

Anwar replied you should never trust anyone with your life. However, Lt Kol Azmi’s information is very reliable. I also asked John Pang, who also works for Ku Li, to check with Ku Li whether Lt Kol Azmi’s information is reliable. I told John what Lt Kol Azmi told us and asked him to inform Ku Li about it. John confirmed that Lt Kol Azmi told Ku Li the same thing and that the information is reliable.

So that is why you signed the Statutory Declaration?

No. Actually, initially, I wanted to just write an article, like usual. But Bull asked to meet first before I write anything. So we met early April at La Bordega in Bangsar. Bull suggested I should instead sign a Statutory Declaration, as that would be stronger. They can ignore my article but they can’t ignore a Statutory Declaration.

Then you signed it?

No. I still did not sign it yet. I was worried about the repercussions. We would be forcing the government to act and they might come down hard on me. As Bull said, they can ignore my article but they can’t ignore a Statutory Declaration. Bull called for a second meeting on the Sunday before I signed the Statutory Declaration. We met at the Selangor Club Dataran Merdeka for lunch.

And then?

I told Bull I was a bit worried about signing a Statutory Declaration because the government will surely arrest and charge me if I do. I felt an article would be safer. But Bull disagreed. He felt an article was not strong enough. Bull said if anything happens to me they would go to court to testify that what I had signed is the truth. Bull assured me they would not allow me to rot in jail. So, on the 18th June, I signed the Statutory Declaration.

Are you sure they will come forward to testify in your trial?

That’s what Bull told me and I trust him. As I said, I’ve known him for 45 years.

Okay, let’s see whether they do or not. But we think they will not. They will not come forward to testify at your trial.

Maybe. Maybe what you say is true. I don’t know. Let’s see. After all I have already been charged and my trial will soon start. Let’s see whether they keep their word and testify at my trial. But I am confident they will because they have given me their assurance.

We believe you have been set up as the fall guy. Maybe they want to get rid of you.

I don’t think so. Anyway, we will know soon enough once my trial starts. It is going to be a most interesting trial indeed once the truth surfaces. Don’t you think so?

Didn’t Najib’s people approach you to make a deal? You mean to buy my silence? Yes, they did. Who? Datuk Jamaluddin Jarjis. JJ? Yes. When? It was not long after I was charged for sedition, before I signed the Statutory Declaration. JJ phoned and said he wanted to meet. I knew he was working for Najib so I agreed. We met at the car park outside Kelab Taman Perdana. My wife drove me there and waited at a distance. She was worried that it may be a trap and she wanted to be cautious in case they were setting me up, or something like that. JJ arrived about 6pm and asked me to get into his car. He was alone. I waved to my wife and signalled her to go home and she wrote down JJ’s car number plate in case I disappeared or whatever. We drove to a roadside stall in Jalan Ipoh and sat there and talked. JJ told me that Najib had asked him to meet me to make a deal. I asked him whether Najib really knows we are meeting and whether he had endorsed or sanctioned the meeting and JJ replied that our meeting was on Najib’s instructions. We spent about an hour talking. The bottom line is he wanted me to stop writing about Najib and Altantuya. He also asked me whether I could delay my sedition trial until Najib becomes the Prime Minister. Once Najib is installed as Prime Minister they will drop the charges against me. I will also receive a monthly allowance of RM30,000 for my cooperation. He didn’t say for how long though. I asked him how to delay the trial and he replied I can always get a medical certificate to confirm I am not fit enough to attend trial. I told him if I delayed the trial then the legal costs would increase and he offered to pay all the legal fees. He asked me to get my lawyers to issue an invoice and he would pay the cost, whatever it may be. I told my lawyers about this incident so that at least some other people know about it.

So, what happened to the deal?

Soon after that I signed my Statutory Declaration. That was my way of saying no deal. After that they arrested me and charged me for criminal defamation. I suppose that was their way of replying to my reply.

Wouldn’t it have been better for you to accept the deal? After all, Najib is soon going to be the Prime Minister.

Maybe. But it’s too late now isn’t it? I have already burned my bridges behind me.

The above is a small portion of my questions and answers session with the Special Branch over the five days of interrogation. This, plus a lot more, was compiled into a report, which I was supposed to sign on the morning of 23 September 2008 -- but which never materialised for some strange reason. I am probably the first ISA detainee in almost 50 years who made a statement (confession) but was never asked to sign it.

The cat and mouse game with the Royal Malaysian Police

When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I was made to sit for an IQ test. I just enjoyed these tests because I had already done many before that. You see, my parents subscribed me to the Junior Readers Digest and every month, whenever I received my copies, I would relish reading them from cover to cover. One of my favourite chapters was the one on IQ tests.

Some questions were in text format and others in graphics form. Invariably, you are asked to solve puzzles and problems and how to get over sticky situations. My favourite question was the one about the bridge closing at 7.00pm and a guard being placed in the middle of the bridge to prevent anyone from crossing it. Those on the left bank would not be allowed to cross over to the right bank and vice versa.

The question was: you arrived at the bridge at 11.00pm and found the guard asleep in the middle of the bridge. If you crossed the bridge the guard would wake up and catch you trying to cross and will force you to go back the way you came. So how are you going to cross the bridge to get home?

Hmm….this was one tricky question. I pondered for a while and my reply was I would quietly creep across the bridge and just before I reached the guard I would turn around and walk back the way I came. I would then make a lot of noise, which would wake the guard up. The guard, seeing that I was trying to sneak across the bridge, would chase me and catch me and force me to return to the opposite direction. And the opposite direction is where I actually wanted to go in the first place.

So that would be how I would get to cross the bridge and go home. But this would mean the guard would have to be not too bright and can be easily fooled. He sees you heading back from where you came and he would think that you came from the other direction. So he would force you back to the opposite direction, thinking this is where you came from rather than this is where you actually wanted to go in the first place.

Confusing? Not really. All you need to do is to create the impression that you are coming from one direction whereas you are actually coming from the opposite direction. And when they force you to return to the direction they thought you were coming from, you end up, with their help, heading for the direction you really wanted to go.

And this is the cat and mouse game that one has to play with the officers in blue from the Royal Malaysian Police.

The officers in the Malaysian police force rejoice when they think they have got you covered and have figured out your every move. They monitor your movements, your phone calls, those of your friends, and whatnot. If they don’t get what they want they will dig deeper. And maybe, in the end, they will find what they want to know. So you need to give them something to work on. Let them think they have got you, whereas it is you who have got them.

For example, on 10 April 2001, the police picked up four people under the Internal Security Act -- Tian Chua, Saari Sungib, Hishamuddin Rais and Ezam Mohd Nor. The police had been following me for three days and I knew I was also about to be picked up.

I got into my car and with my wife driving we went to our daughter’s apartment. My wife noticed we were being followed.

That evening, my wife went out to buy some ice cream and she saw a bunch of police officers loitering at the entrance. She knew they were waiting for me.

The next morning, we left the apartment, and about one kilometre down the road, they stopped our car and took me in. I could have sneaked out the back and would have been able to give them the slip, but it was crucial that we find out what their game plan was.

To cut a long 54-day story short, Anwar was facing nine criminal charges and was already convicted for the first and was facing trial for the second. He was eventually found guilty for both and his jail sentences were made to run consecutive rather than concurrent. The first conviction attracted a six-year jail sentence and the second nine years. Together with the seven months remand period during the trial, Anwar was given a 15 years and seven months jail sentence. And he still had seven more trials to go through.

Anwar was probably going to be in jail for at least 100 years, which meant he was going to die in jail.

My interrogation took 54 days and my signed ‘confession’ was more than 200 pages. There was a lot they asked me and a lot I told them. The most crucial piece of information they wanted was how did Anwar manage to run the Reformasi Movement from behind the high walls of the Sungai Buloh Prison? They knew the Reformasi Movement was being guided and run by Anwar. They just did not know how it was being done.

I was posed this question and I spilled the beans. I could not hold anything back. The information just flowed.

We meet Anwar in court during his many trials and that is when he dishes out his instructions. In fact, not only the Reformasi Movement, but also the party itself is run in this manner. We look forward to his trial dates because that is when we are able to meet Anwar and receive instructions from him.

Three days later, the Special Branch officers came to see me, bringing a copy of a newspaper. “Read this,” they told me.

It was the newspaper headline about the government dropping the balance seven charges against Anwar.

“So, now there are no more trials. Anwar will no longer be going to court. So how are you people going to meet him now?”

“Aiyah,” I said, with a very disappointed and dejected look on my face. “Now the link to Anwar has been severed. There would be no way we can continue meeting him to get further instructions from him.”

I sat back and looked my Special Branch officers in the face. They had this very pleased look, as it they had pulled off the coup of the century. These are five very happy Special Branch officers. They even offered me a cigarette and ordered some Kentucky Fried Chicken for my lunch. They had broken the link of communication between Anwar and the outside world. That is the end of Anwar’s communication network.

The Special Branch officers were probably made to sit for a course where they studied how Chin Peng communicated with his guerrillas in the Pahang, Perak and Kelantan jungles, plus those along the Malaysian-Thai border. I, in fact, discussed this with them and knew of the ‘dead letter boxes’ and all such primitive communication methods of 50 years or so ago.

The Special Branch knew that I knew. And I knew that the Special Branch knew that I knew. So they wanted to know how much of these tactics were being used to enable Anwar to communicate with the outside world and thereby organise his Reformasi Movement and other political activities.

Well, I could not hold anything back. I spilled my guts out and told them everything. And the result of that was they dropped the balance seven charges against Anwar so that he can be cut off from the outside world and can no longer direct things from behind the high walls of the Sungai Buloh Prison.

But that was not really how it was done. And of course I can’t tell you how it was done in case we need to do it again. But what matters is that they believed this was how it was done and they dropped the seven charges against Anwar to ‘plug the holes’.

They were one happy bunch of Special Branch officers the day they broke the news to me that they had dropped the balance seven charges against Anwar. And I had to pretend I was so disappointed and unhappy that they had outsmarted us.

Yes, I bet those Special Branch officers did not have to sit for IQ tests when they were 11 or 12 years old. If not they would have had to figure out how to cross the bridge after 7.00pm when the guard is sitting right in the middle of the bridge to stop anyone from crossing. And then they would have figured out you need to fool the guard by pretending that you are crossing from one direction whereas you are actually crossing from the opposite direction. Then they would have known that, if you can successfully fool the guard, he would actually assist you to cross to the side, where you actually wanted to go.

Yes, there is more I want to reveal. But let this suffice for today. In the next article we shall talk more about how to play cat and mouse games with the Malaysian police. No, nothing that has happened thus far is anything we did not want to happen. They think they have us on the run. They think they have sent us underground. Is that so? Lt Col George Armstrong Custer also thought he had the Indians on the run. By the time he realised it was the other way around, it was too late. Little Bighorn was Custer’s last stand and where the Seventh Calvary met its doom.

More later, and stay safe till then.

Malaysiakini.com : Dr Mansor calon PKR di Penanti

Seperti yang diduga, Timbalan Pengerusi PKR Pulau Pinang, Datuk Dr Mansor Othman, 58, tahun dipilih sebagai calon PKR bagi pilihanraya kecil DUN Penanti bulan depan.

anwar ibrahim dr mansor othman pkr candidate for penanti state seat by election 280409 03Pemilihannya diumumkan oleh Ketua Umum PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim di hadapan lebih 1,000 penyokong yang memenuhi Yayasan Aman, di Penanti malam ini.

Antara pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat yang hadir ialah Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang yang juga setiausaha agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng; Presiden PKR, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail; Pengerusi PKR negeri yang juga ahli Parlimen Bayan Baru, Zahrain Mohd Hashim; pengerusi DAP negeri dan exco kerajaan negeri, Chow Kon Yeow dan bekas timbalan ketua menteri, Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin.

Sejak Fairus mengosongkan kerusi tersebut pada 16 April lalu, tercetus spekulasi menyatakan bahawa Anwar akan memilih Dr Mansor bertanding di kerusi tersebut.

Dr Mansor, bekas profesor di Universiti Sains Malaysia, merupakan setiausaha politik Anwar ketika beliau menjadi timbalan perdana menteri dalam kerajaan pusat BN.

Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR) telah menetapkan 23 Mei sebagai hari penamaan calon manakala pengundian pada 31 Mei depan.

anwar ibrahim dr mansor othman pkr candidate for penanti state seat by election 280409 01Pada 8 April lalu, Fairus meletakkan jawatan sebagai timbalan ketua menteri 1 selepas beliau disiasat berhubung dakwaan rasuah membabitkan operasi kuari di Pulau Pinang.

Bagaimanapun, Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPR) menyatakan tidak cukup bukti untuk mendakwa Fairus terhadap tuduhan tersebut.

Minggu lalu, Fairus mengulangi keputusannya untuk meletak jawatan wakil rakyat DUN Penanti.

Baca berita penuh

History of RPK's Malaysia Today

source - http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/21109/84/

Soon after that, Anwar Ibrahim was released from incarceration. There was jubilation all around. My wife, Marina, and I stood on the steps of the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, quite amused at the chanting and cheering going on. My phone rang but I could not hear properly because of the noise. I handed the phone to Marina, who has better hearing than me. “It’s the BBC from London,” she told me as she handed me back the phone.

“Hold on,” I shouted into the phone. “It’s so noisy here. Let me move to a quieter place.”

Marina and I quickly walked to the side of the Palace of Justice where it was quieter and I spoke to the chap from the BBC.

“We heard Anwar has just been released. Can we get your statement?”

“Sure, but why me?” I asked.

“Well, you are the Director of the Free Anwar Campaign and you run the freeanwar dot com website. I suppose you are now out of a job since Anwar has just been released. What do you plan to do now?”

“I suppose you could put it that way,” I laughed. “I must be the only Director who got retrenched from his job because he is successful.”

The BBC chap laughed and asked, “So what do you intend to do now, now that you have been retrenched?”

“I am going to now focus fulltime on the new website I just started three weeks ago.”

“Oh, what is it called?”

“Malaysia Today. It’s at malaysia dash today dot net.”

“You said you started this website three weeks ago? Does this mean you anticipated that Anwar would be released?”

“Yes, I did. In fact, that was one of the first articles I wrote on Malaysia Today. I said that Anwar would be released with a two-one verdict and that the lady judge would be the sole dissenting voice.”

“How did you know? Do you own a crystal ball?”

“It’s my business to know. That is what I do. I find out what people don’t know or try to hide and publish the story, while crossing my fingers in the hope that I am right.”

“So what do you hope to achieve with your new website?”

“Let me put it this way. It took us six years to free Anwar from jail. But only Anwar is free. Malaysians are not yet free. And Malaysians will never be free until they can be allowed freedom of expression and freedom of choice. It may take us 60 more years to free Malaysians, I don’t know. I may even never see that happen in my lifetime. But that is the mission and vision of Malaysia Today, to free Malaysians by allowing them freedom of expression. Freeing Anwar was phase one. Phase two is to free Malaysians.”

“Thank you Raja Petra. And I wish you luck in your new endeavour. Can we call you again if we need anything further?”

“Sure, no problem. Bye.”

That was my ‘interview’ with the BBC on the steps of the Palace of Justice on the morning of 2 September 2004. Malaysia Today was then only 20 days old. But Malaysia Today was created with a vision and a mission. It is not, as the government said, a hobby of bored and unemployed housewives. Malaysia Today was created to gain back the territory that we lost in the March 2004 general election when Barisan Nasional performed its best ever in the history of Malaysian elections.

“What do you think we are going to see?” Marina asked me. “This is going to involved a hell of a lot of work. And you are going to suffer all sorts of hassle from the police. Is it going to be worth it?”

“Hun (we call each other Hun, which is short for honey, not hantu),” I told Marina. “Come the next election, in 2008 or 2009, Malaysia Today is going to be the weapon we use to hit Barisan Nasional where it hurts most. We are going to engage Barisan Nasional in the cyber-world and use hit and run guerrilla tactics. They will be running around in circles trying to duck our hit and run attacks but they will not be able to do anything about it. By then the Internet will be the most powerful ‘terrorist’ weapon in the elections. And we will be there, ready to take on Barisan Nasional in 2008 or 2009.”

Yes, in 1998, when we first started using the Internet to fight Barisan Nasional, there were only 280,000 Internet subscribers against 8 million registered voters. Today, ten years on, there are almost 16 million Internet subscribers against 12 million registered voters.

Over the last ten years, the number of registered voters increased only 50%. However, in that same period, the number of Internet subscribers increased 328.9% (according to the official statistics). Today, the Internet reaches 62.8% of the Malaysian population. Malaysia has more Internet subscribers than it has voters. (See the statistics below).

Yes, that was our plan back in 2004 when we launched Malaysia Today. No, Malaysia Today is not a newspaper. And it is not in the same league as Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider. Malaysia Today is a guerrilla outfit. We are cyber terrorists. Our job is to hit the government whenever and wherever we can. And if hit and run is what it takes, then hit and run is what it will have to be.

We almost succeeded in meeting our aspirations in March 2008. But, in our books, that is a job only half done. We have to finish the job. We have to complete what we started back in 1998. And the completion would be when Barisan Nasional has been brought down from its high horse and made to eat humble pie. We will consider to have met our objective when the government admits that it serves the people, and not the people who serve the government.

On a slight digression, when I was in Kamunting from September to November last year, Marina sent me loads of books to read and one of those books was The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It was a most interesting book and took me only a day to finish. I must say that book gave me new insight into guerrilla warfare.

The government calls the Barisan Rakyat Bloggers cyber terrorists. Actually, I had never thought of it that way. I suppose, under the circumstances, since we have been classified as cyber terrorists, then we have no choice but to act as one. And terrorists must master the art of hit and run.