ode to the soapbox

KUALA LUMPUR (TheStar): Malaysia Today news portal editor Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin has filed a habeas corpus application to get a court order for his release.

hmm byk kali jumpa habeas corpus recently. Few days ago Teresa Kok filed habaes corpus, then now RPK. apa dia habaes corpus nih?

aku check wikipedia:

"Habeas corpus (Latin: [We command] that you have the body)[1] is the name of a legal action, or writ, through which a person can seek relief from unlawful detention of himself or another person. The writ of habeas corpus has historically been an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action."

oh i see. so habeas corpus ni untuk demand custodian supaya the prisoner 'can seek relief from detention'. maknanya supaya dibebaskan?

"A writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum is a summons with the force of a court order addressed to the custodian (such as a prison official) demanding that a prisoner be brought before the court, together with proof of authority, allowing the court to determine whether that custodian has lawful authority to hold that person, or, if not, the person should be released from custody."

oh ok. bukan untuk dibebaskan, tapi supaya dihadapkan ke mahkamah untuk dibicarakan. that makes sense. keluarkan dari ISA supaya dibicarakan secara adil.

interestingly aku baca, habaes corpus issue ni timbul recently di US.

"On June 12, 2008, the Supreme Court ruling in Boumediene v. Bush recognized habeas corpus rights for the Guantanamo prisoners."

see? even accused terrorist ada habaes corpus right.

let's see habaes corpus in context of malaysian law.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the right of habeas corpus is enshrined in the Federal Constitution, though the name habeas corpus is not used. Article 5(2) provides that "Where complaint is made to a High Court or any judge thereof that a person is being unlawfully detained the court shall inquire into the complaint and, unless satisfied that the detention is lawful, shall order him to be produced before the court and release him."

As there are several statutes, for example, the Internal Security Act 1960, that still permit detention without trial, the procedure is usually effective in such cases only if it can be showed that there was a procedural error in the way that the detention was ordered.

so in this case, ISA detainee cuma boleh dibeaskan via habaes corpus if there was a procedural error in the way that the detention was ordered. once this one is establish then ISA cannot detain people anymore.

in malaysia, sapa yg ada power detain ppl under ISA? so let's check ISA entry in wikipedia.

"In 1960, the government passed the Internal Security Act under Article 149 of the Malaysian Constitution. It permitted the detention, at the discretion of the Home Minister, without charge or trial of any person in respect of whom the Home Minister was satisfied that such detention was necessary to prevent him or her from acting in any manner prejudicial to national security or to the maintenance of essential services or to the economic life in Malaysia. "

ahah!

read : at the discretion of home minister. how can hamid albar kata bukan dia yg suruh tangkap wartawan shin chew jit poh tuh bawak masuk ISA?

apa pulak kesalahan yg boleh justify kita guna ISA, based on malaysian constitution?

"The three grounds given in Section 8(1) upon which the order may be based is where a person has acted in any manner prejudicial to the:

a) security of Malaysia or part thereof; or
b) maintenance of essential services; or
c) economic life. "

see? takde pun untuk protect certain certain individu, macam yg hamid albar kata reason they all detain wartawan shin chew jit poh tu.

even teresa kok yg suggest tambah chinese characters on top of jawi kat signboard pon termasuk ke dalam above reasons? a lot of us tak perasan pon teresa kok make such suggestions.

anyway this is when we use the habaes corpus.

naruhodo.


...adie