Perak protestors decision in BN, not public, interest

Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has slammed the court's decision to mete out the harshest punishment on thirteen people who protested in Perak four years ago, calling it a case of mixing public interest with BN's interest.

LFL's Eric Paulsen charged that the courts have misused the full force of the law to muzzle and punish dissidents for political views that did not align with BN.

"We call upon the courts to uphold our constitutional rights including freedom of speech, assembly and association, and not make a mockery of the term ‘public interest’ by equating that with the interest of Barisan Nasional,"  LFL's co-founder Paulsen said in a statement.

The 13 had protested the appointment of BN's Zambry Abdul Kadir as the new Perak menteri besar after the Pakatan government ouster in 2008. 

Kuala Kangsar Sessions Court judge Norsalha Hamzah yesterday fined the protestors RM5,000 each and gave a maximum two-year jail term accorded for illegal assembly under Section 145 of the Penal Code. 

Their application for a stay of sentence pending appeal was also rejected despite some of them being *single mothers and cancer patients.

"The judge’s shocking and unconscionable decision in not allowing stay did not take into account the basic legal principle that the appeal would be made nugatory if the stay was refused," Paulsen said. 

This, he added, is not normal court procedure.

The 13 were found guilty of taking part in an illegal assembly at 3.30pm on Feb 6, 2009, during Zambry's installation ceremony, which resulted when three Pakatan Rakyat assemblypersons defected to BN, causing the state government to collapse and triggering a constitutional crisis.