Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has slammed the court's decision to mete out the harshest punishment on 13 people who protested in Perak four years ago, calling it a case of mixing public interest with BN's interests.

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

NONE "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 interests of Barisan Nasional,"  LFL's co-founder Paulsen said in a statement.

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

Kuala Kangsar sessions court judge Norsalha Hamzah yesterday fined each of the protesters RM5,000 and gave them the 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 triggered a constitutional crisis.

'Verdict affects all Malaysians'

Meanwhile PSM slammed the verdict saying it allowed the real offenders, those behind the Perak "coup" to walk free while penalising those who wanted to uphold democracy.

"The verdict has allowed the offenders, the coup stagers to walk free despite their crime of undermining and toppling the elected government by buying over unscrupulous Pakatan state assemblymen.

"The popular vote remained clearly in favour of the Pakatan, and calls for a by-election in Perak went unheeded. Perak was to be taken, even if it was through foul means," said PSM central committee member Rani Rasiah in a statement today.

She said the verdict did not only affect the 13, but "all Perakians and Malaysians who value democracy".

She called for the 13 to be granted stay of execution until the appeal is over, asking if the present verdict was fair.

"Perakians know the truth, and they know that the 13 who are in jail now represent them, and that there is no natural justice in the court verdict.

"Do the 13 activists deserve two years plus RM5,000? And in the context of a coup?" she said.