Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been invited by Universiti Malaya's student council to speak on the eve of his final sodomy case appeal next week. – October 24, 2014.
As Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy appeal nears, Universiti Malaya's (UM) student council urged students nationwide to join them in a new phase of reformasi, saying Malaysia has been under Barisan Nasional’s rule for too long.
Universiti Malaya Undergraduates Association (PMUM) leader Fahmi Zainol (pic, right) said the voice of the youths had in the past brought change to Malaysia, as well as in Indonesia and Hong Kong.
“I am sure Putrajaya has been controlled by the same power for too long, perhaps it is time Putrajaya needs new powers and energy (to control it),” said Fahmi in a statement.
“I am sure the students can make a change. Taking into account the spirit of solidarity in the case against Anwar on October 28 and 29, I am confident that October 27, 2014, will see the rise of the students.”
He urged students to begin the “reformasi” on the eve of Anwar's appeal hearing on October 28 by attending a talk by the parliamentary opposition leader on the UM campus at 9pm.
The UM administration has already declared the programme, “40 years: from University of Malaya to prison” illegal.
“From UM, we will go to Putrajaya to bring about reformasi, which has become the dream of Malaysians. Come, from UM to Putrajaya,” said Fahmi.
Reformasi was the battle cry of street protesters who rallied for Anwar in 1998, following his sacking from the Cabinet.
Anwar’s sacking, his beating while in police custody and subsequent sodomy charges angered many and saw the birth Parti Keadilan Nasional, now known as PKR.
Sixteen years later, PKR Youth is now attempting to mobilise support for the opposition leader through their #RakyatHakimNegara campaign, while top leaders are in Australia to raise awareness about Anwar’s trial next week.
Fahmi said today that the students, as a generation brought up at the turn of the millennium, had seen how Malaysia suffered from a socio-economic crisis under BN’s rule.
He said the economy was in tatters due to rising deficit, while the sovereignty of the country’s laws were undermined enactment of laws depriving Malaysians of their human rights.
“The government still has no shame in using draconian laws such as the Sedition Act 1948, even though the rest of the world, including the United Nations (UN), condemns its use.
“Even the judiciary appears to be used for selective prosecution to fulfil the desires of the ruling parties,” he said, noting that Anwar as well as youth activists had fallen prey to it.
“What else is there for us to hope from the leaders who are currently ruling Putrajaya today?”
Malay daily Berita Harian reported today that Fahmi had been summoned for disciplinary action for allegedly tarnishing the university’s reputation, after he invited Anwar to speak in campus next Monday.
UM vice-chancellor of student affairs, Professor Datuk Dr Rohana Yusof, told the paper that UM would never allow or support such a programme as it was against the university rules.
“It will not only damage the image, but will also cause a negative view of the university,” she was quoted as saying, adding that Fahmi was at risk of suspension and could be fined RM200 if he continued with the programme.
She also warned other students of disciplinary action if they attended the event.
But Fahmi told The Malaysian Insider today that the programme would go on.
"PMUM will make sure that Anwar will enter UM and let our students and the management have a lesson on freedom of speech."
He said they were not challenging the university management, but the unjust law and the system, adding that "in the process the people who are benefited from this unjust system might feel offended".
"The students shall be treated as adults, given the freedom to organise events without being controlled by the university officials, as long as our events do not in conflict with the Malaysian laws passed by the Parliament.
"It is in conjunction with what other world-class universities have already done, and also how Universiti Malaya was in 1960s."
Fahmi said yesterday that the event would mark Anwar’s journey from his days as a UM student to his current predicament.
The Federal Court is scheduled to hear Anwar's appeal on his sodomy conviction on October 28 and 29.
On March 7, the Court of Appeal overturned his sodomy acquittal by the High Court two years earlier.
The appellate court found Anwar guilty of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan 26, at a unit at the Desa Damansara condominium in Bukit Damansara between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
Anwar was sentenced to five years’ jail but was granted a stay of execution, pending an appeal to the Federal Court.
- TMI
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.