July 24, 2012
BERSIH2.0 is Legal, says Kuala Lumpur High Court
by Hafiz Yatim@http://www.malaysiakini.com
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has quashed the Home Minister’s declaration on July 1 last year that the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) is an “unlawful” organisation However, the court did not grant the two prayers sought by BERSIH for the coalition to be registered.
Justice Rohana Yusof in her decision this morning said BERSIHhas successfully proven its case in challenging the government’s declaration. She also ruled the Home Minister’s declaration as “tainted”.
“Hence, we are allowing the applicant’s application (for judicial review of the government’s declaration), with no order as to costs,” she said.
Senior federal counsel Azizan Md Arshad, representing the respondents, said the attorney-general would be briefed and further instructions sought.
BERSIH lawyer K Shanmuga said the decision means in effect that the coalition is now a legal entity. “…The Home Minister’s decision was irrational because, after declaring it as a threat to national security, he and the authorities had met with BERSIHfficials,” he said.
BERSIH co-chairperson and national laureate A Samad Said (left) said the outlawing of the coalition was unnecessary.
“The legal process has wasted time, energy and government funds. This process also caused unnecessary fear to the people,” he said outside the court.
“The government branded BERSIH as dirty (kotor). Statements from the Prime Minister and the authorities last week said BERSIH has affected the haj quota set by the Saudi (Arabian) government.
“All parties should remember that Justice Rohana saw the contradiction in the actions of the authorities when – during the hearing on June 26 – (she established that) the government had entertained Bersih’s request (to hold its third rally although it had been declared unlawful).”
The 14-member Bersih steering committee led by Ambiga Sreenevasan (right) had named the 
Home Minister, Inspector-General of Police and the Government as respondents.
Apart from Ambiga, the plaintiffs include Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, S Arul Prakkash, K Arumugam, Haris Fathillah Mohamed Ibrahim, Andrew Khoo Chin Hock, Liau Kok Fah, Maria Chin Abdullah, SP Subramaniam, Toh Kin Woon, Wong Chin Huat, Yeo Yang Poh, Yeoh Yong Woi and Zaid Kamaruddin.
Claims and counter-claims
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and the Registrar of Societies (ROS) had declared the coalition to be unlawful, prior to the BERSIH.0 rally on July 9.
Hishammuddin said the declaration was made under Section 5 of the Societies Act 1966 as investigations had shown that BERSIH was not a registered organisation and that it was creating unease among the people.
Two days later, BERSIH stated that coalitions need not be registered with the ROS. The coalition filed a judicial review application on July 8 to challenge the declaration. It said that it had held numerous meetings with the government and the Election Commission prior to the declaration.
It further claimed that Bersih is not a society within the meaning of the Societies Act and that the government has no power to declare a group of organisations as “unlawful”.
Hishammuddin (right) had on April 10 given the nod to Bersih to organise its third rally seeking electoral reforms, ruling out the possibility that it posed a security threat.
Based on this, Justice Rohana sought clarification from the senior federal counsel. On May 15, however, the court threw out BERSIH’s application to cross-examine Hishammuddin and Police chief Ismail Omar.
At the time, it ruled that BERSIH was still unlawful according to Hishammuddin.
Yes, it was a waste of time and taxpayers’ money to prosecute BERSIH2.0 for the July, 2011 protest and also claim damages to government property during April 28, 2012 BERSIH3.0 rally. In the case of the latter, the Police should be held accountable for their actions against 300,000 participants who were at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur in peace and orderly conduct to seek free and fair elections.–Din Merican
YAHOO … NOW WE CAN LOOK FORWARD TO BERSIH 4.0 SHOULD GE 13 BE FLAWED WITH CHEATING.
So, participating in BERSIH 2.0 was worthwhile after all and I hope BERSIH 3.0 will also be declared legal and it was worth all the trouble, the heartache and the pain in both eyes from being hit by tear gas at Masjid Jamek LRT Station.
So now it’s official that HIshamuddin is really an imbecile?
Hishammuddin should resign his position as Home Minister to take responsibility since his wrong labelling of the Bersih Rally as illegal has caused thousands of people to suffer due to unnecessary road blocks and violence against those in yellow shirts as well as damages etc…
And he can enjoy his Lamb Chop all he want…. and ride his many Harley Davidson in KL or perhaps even in Puncak Bogor and Bandung…
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Better to sack him, but to Najib he can be trusted more than the DPM who is after his job. Mediocrity all the way.–Din Merican
Is this an omen that the Judiciary is independent or starting to become?
The Umno crooks will now resort to the Appeal Court to overturn the High Court’s ruling. This is to be expected from a bunch of goons who have lost the moral high ground to fight for justice. Umno’s justice is riddled with corruption, kickbacks and what have you. Need I say more?
no Kathy,
maybe the judiciary needs some more real persuasion to become independent.
until then no case will be solved but unneccessarily delayed and money spent on the crony lawyers and judges, at the end it will be left hanging in the air, nothing happens.
this is business as usual, one covers for the other. they’ll only prosecute innocent people. in malaysia crime pays, at least for the upper strata of umno politician.
put Najib, IGP, Baginda and the rest in the witness stand, then I’ll believe that our judiciary is straight.
Justice Rohana Yusof has just kissed her promotion to the Appeal Court and/or Federal Court goodbye.
Those UMNO goons are gathering at buka puasa screaming, ” Who does this woman think she is. Perempuan ini kena diajar siapa boss” .
Don’t be surprised CJ Ariffin already got an earfull from the UMNO Supreme Council, and why he allowed “Perempuan ini” to be at the Bench and how come he allowed such anti national judgement be read in court.
Justice Rohana should look south for her next career. Singapore would love to have her, so that the Singapore govt can have a feel of the mindset of this judiciary and whether the next GE will be lawless.
Justice Rohana Yusof may have kissed her promotion goodbye but bear in mind the 13 GE is round the corner. There would be opportunities for more Rohanas. Good on you and keep the justice flag flying. Thanks.
Dear Frank,look at it this way,Justice Rohana has got more Balls than all of us put together including you, she doesn’t give a FORK about her promotions,how I wish we have more people like her.the CJ can kiss her ass ( if she let’s him ) or lick it for all she care.I surely don’t give a Fork to them Gin Bang Gang in Judiciary or the AG for that matter.The AG can lick my Balls for all I care,I’ll still shit on him.Pituuiii.
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Round 1 Bersih. Round 2. Appeal and then? They are wasting taxpayers money to hound civil society individuals who have the courage to stand up against those who arrogantly think that they can talk the law into their own hands. Lok1, please show some class in your comments. You are an intelligent guy.–Din Merican
Lok1,
Give Justice Rohana the proper respect please. She is an OUTSTANDING lady with strong points in her personality.
Balls are associated with folks like Mr Bean and yours sincerely, and the bloghost too.
What a slap in the face of Kerismuddin and the AG with all their legal training and here a High Court judge is saying they failed their law course by declaring Bersih 2.0 not illegal. Even the Mamat in the street knows that Bersih 2.0 is a legal assembly, no need to go to law school. Lamb Chop Kerismuddin need to go back to law school, bring along the Gunny Patel and the other prosecutors in the AG Chambers.
Now Najeebir Singh will need to consult all the legal eagles in the Temples , Inner Temple, outer Temple or maybe even Tompel to see if Judge Rohana is right. What a joke, maybe he can be the villain in future Batman movies.
Aiseh, does it really matter?
Those who wanna declare it illegal would have lost face, that’s all. But their muka tebal ++! Those who took part in it will no doubt be vindicated, but to count it as victory is far from reality.
Nothing has changed. All the Goons are doing, is to tie everyone they disagree with (which is almost anyone with some functioning grey tissue between the ears), in Legalistic knots. That is a sure sign of desperation.
To really mess them up, those who were arrested wrongly and beaten up should take a class action suite against that hide-bound HM and so called law enforcers. It doesn’t count as a Putsch, but a rather nice sucker punch.
The BN government should not appeal since they say that the judiciary of Malaysia is independent. The executive should appeal against the judiciary’s decisions as the judiciary cannot appeal against the legislature, and the executive cannot appeal against the legialation of the the legislature. That is the division of powers.
Tang Koon Long,
UMNO-BN WILL appeal….. to the CJ to ensure Justice Rohan will not get promoted tonAppeals Court and to the Federal Court.
You must know who is BOSS’ of the judiciary… It is not CJ Arifin, it is PM Najib…. And it is definitely not Parliament, it is the UMNO Supreme Council. If you don’t know this, you must have been born yesterday.
To really mess them up, those who were arrested wrongly and beaten up should take a class action suite – C.L.Familiaris
Class action in Malaysia???
You can’t be serious ???
You can’t do that in a fascist state. It is simply not tolerated.
Imagine a court case: The Goons vs the Rakyat!!!
Yup, Frank. Do what must be done.
The Legalisms must be met with equal measure of Legalisms – in order that they get it thru’ their thick skulls that there is a price to pay for every action. Newton’s Third Law of Motion. Point is that, though they may be fascist, we’re not.
Who ever said we need to be divine and forgive unconditionally? It’s pure mechanics for those who cannot understand the consequences of their action. Enough of the “iRule” brand. It sounds like a tired refrain from a cheap snake oil merchant. The first order of business actually, is to hamstring their screwdriver AG. Chuck this flur out into the deep Blue Ocean, when the tsunami wafts through – again.
Nah, they won’t touch Justice Rohana, except maybe to sideline her to lower profile cases. The present Registrar seems fair and strict enough.
I hope Hisham will do the right thing and resign.
I hope Hisham will do the right thing and resign.- didi
I heard his skin is as thick as that of a hippopotamus.
I hope Hisham will do the right thing and resign. – didi
You will need a big crowbar or C4 to remove this lamb chop Kerismuddin. Wonder what will he be doing if he is removed. He only knows to be an MP and a Minister. Left out in the cold he’d probably shrivel and maybe no more lamb chop dinner. Probably have to settle for goat curry like the rest of us.
Appealing against a judiciary decision simply means saying that the judiciary has made a wrong decision – it is not about seeking second opinion.
Making a legal judgement is the purview of the judiciary. The executive, unlike ordinary citizens, must except the judicial decision because the executive has neither the constitutional capacity nor expertise to lay claim that a certain judgement has been defective.
How else could there be separation of powers of the executive, legislature, and judiciary?
The executive, unlike ordinary citizens, must except the judicial decision because the executive has neither the constitutional capacity nor expertise to lay claim that a certain judgement has been defective. How else could there be separation of powers between the executive, legislature, and judiciary? – Tang Koon Long
Hey, are you talking about Malaysia or about another country? If you are referring to Malaysia, you must have left the country and lost contact since you were a baby.
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Frank, Tang does not realise that we are a country governed by plutocrats who use democratic elections to gain legitimacy.–Din Merican