- Home
- Hansard & Papers
- Legislative Assembly
- 18 June 2002
Tribute To Mr Karpal Singh
Printing Tips |
Print selected text
| Full Day Hansard Transcript
« Prior Item |
Item 35 of 44
| Next Item »
About this Item
Speakers - Gibson Mr Paul
Business - Private Members Statements
|
Page: 3263
Mr GIBSON (Blacktown) [5.59 p.m.]: I speak about a person whom we should all admire greatly and who, in some ways, is in the same category, for example, as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. He is a person who believes in great civil reforms and causes and is a great example to all of us. I am referring to Karpal Singh, a Malaysian constitutional lawyer who will visit Australia in the coming weeks. It is appropriate to say a few words about Karpal Singh, who has been a prominent advocate of human rights in Malaysia for more than 30 years. He is the Deputy Chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party. He was a member of Parliament for the State of Penang from 1978 to 1999. Prior to that, from 1974 to 1978, Mr Singh was a State Assemblyman for the State of Kedah.
Amnesty International declared Mr Singh a prisoner of conscience in 1987 when, during "Operation Lalang", he was arrested under the Internal Security Act and imprisoned until January 1989 without charge or trial. Mr Singh was released by order of the court in March 1988 in response to a habeas corpus application, but was rearrested by the police only hours later and taken into custody. Karpal Singh is a leading opponent of the death penalty in Malaysia. He also acted for the gaoled Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and was accused of making seditious remarks during that trial. Malaysia's Sessions Court charged Karpal Singh, a long-time critic of Mahathir Mohamad, with sedition after he alleged at Mr Anwar's sodomy trial that people in high places had tried to poison his client. The deputy chairman of the Democratic Action Party pleaded innocent, and was released on bail. Karpal Singh said it was the first time in any Commonwealth nation that a lawyer was prosecuted for something he said during a trial. He also said the case would test the independence of the judiciary and the status of lawyers in Malaysia.
Malaysia has been in political turmoil since Anwar was fired back in September 1998. But we all know that from the mid-1980s there has been mounting concern at the erosion of human rights in Malaysia, especially those relating to freedom of expression and threats to the independence of both the bar and the judiciary. One of the most worrying developments has been the increasing use by the prosecution of sedition as a weapon against opponents and critics of the government. Throughout the Commonwealth this ancient offence has been reduced almost to a dead letter by liberal-minded judges. But in Malaysia judges have gone the opposite way. They have interpreted the offence so broadly that now almost any strong expression of dissent from or criticism of the government can be held to be seditious and punished by imprisonment.
During the course of the second trial of Mr Anwar it was noted by Karpal Singh that on 11 September 1999 Mr Anwar was losing weight and that his hair was falling out. He also made remarks about the alarmingly high levels of arsenic found in Mr Anwar's body. He asked for an inquiry to be held. Mr Singh is then alleged to have said words to the effect, "It could well be someone out there wants to get rid of him, even to the extent of murder. I suspect people in high places are responsible for this situation." Because of that, Mr Singh was charged with sedition and was gaoled. Such prosecutions strike at the heart of not only the immunity of lawyers in the conduct of their professional duties but also, and even more importantly, at the right of the individual to a fair trial.
As Karpal Singh has said all the way through, if there is to be a fair trial in any case, witnesses, advocates and all other parties must be able to express themselves in court freely, without fear that they will suffer repercussions for doing so. Both the common law and international law recognise they must be immune from prosecution and civil action for statements made during court proceedings. Sedition is not an offence against justice, but a political offence used to punish dissent. In January this year Malaysians authorities withdrew the sedition charges. The authorities gave no reason why the sedition charges had been dropped. His visit will be of great benefit to the people of this nation who fight for causes and freedom. His visit gives Australians an opportunity to meet one of the great men of our lifetime. [Time expired.]
Last modified 05/12/2007 16:38:39 : Update this page