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Karpal's gone, but they still want pound of flesh

YOURSAY | ‘Wasn't the late Karpal Singh merely stating the fact?'

Late Karpal still guilty of sedition, but fine reduced to RM1,800

Pemerhati: The late DAP chairperson Karpal Singh was charged and found guilty of sedition by the Malaysian court when he correctly pointed out that, "The late Perak sultan’s decision to remove then Pakatan Rakyat menteri besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin can be challenged in a court of law."

If it is seditious to state the truth, then all people who truthfully say things that the Umno and BN people do not like will be found guilty of sedition and end up being fined and/or in prison.

The country’s judiciary and the enforcement agencies have really gone to the dogs.

Kim Quek: Justice Mohtaruddin Baki’s judgment is hollow and devoid of legal rationale. How could stating a well-known legal fact be regarded as seditious?

Why should such a perfectly legal act become illegal simply because the person so addressed is a sultan? Is it stated anywhere in the (Federal) Constitution or law that a sultan cannot be publicly told that his act is unconstitutional, that doing so constitutes a legal offence?

I can’t imagine these judges do not possess that little bit of intelligence to grasp such elementary legal knowledge.

The irresistible conclusion is that they suffer from total deficit of integrity and moral courage or their mentality is so hopelessly feudal that they shut off their legal mind whenever they are confronted by issues relating to royalty.

Eagle: The sacking of the Pakatan Perak government was in fact challenged in court and went through the whole process of appeal. So what Karpal said was a statement of fact. Why then uttering it is seditious?

Can the lower court judges and these two appeal court judges not understand this?

Dumbo: The judgment is seriously flawed because the judges of today have a narrow view of what constitutes sedition. They don't read wide enough, including reading decisions of external jurisdictions.

It's a decision that ridicules common sense. Stating a fact cannot be equated to questioning the sultan's sovereignty.

Hang Babeuf: The whole case was a disgrace. The case should never have been brought up in the first place. There was never any proper case against Karpal. He was acquitted, rightly.

The evidence of two reporters upon whose word the case rests was simply ludicrous. Then, the acquittal (case dismissed without any need for any defence to be made) was overturned, set aside, on appeal.

"Go back and make a different decision, substitute the opposite!" An absolute farce. And now that travesty is upheld: a second farce piled upon the first, a compounded farce. And a total disgrace.

YHJ: What a shame. This judgment has put a black mark on the judiciary system of the country.

It's a sad day when judges deem sultans as beyond criticism. They are but mere mortals, aren't they? And like all mortals, as the saying goes, to err is human, to forgive divine.

Quigonbond: In the end, chances of getting a judge to try your case or hear your appeal, someone that international jurists can actually respect, is next to zero.

Vijay47: I am surprised that Karpal was charged with sedition and not blasphemy. Once again, Malaysia sets the pace where a lawyer is found guilty for commenting on a legal issue.

Leaving that aside, I again wouldn't be surprised if Perkasa, or Umno ministers Ismail Sabri or Salleh Said Keruak and other pillars of Malay intellect, come out and demand that since Karpal is no more with us, his sons must be imprisoned. Maybe even his daughter.

Vent: This is reprehensible and clearly meant to stain the name of Karpal Singh, a man who was more fearless than any politician Malaysia has ever known.

But his legacy will outlive this feeble attempt to embarrass his wife and particularly his children.

SimonTi: In the court of public opinion and in the eyes of the world, the great and courageous Karpal Singh is innocent and these fellows wouldn't have dared to find him guilty and imprison him if the Tiger of Jelutong was still alive, as the whole world would condemn this judgment and Karpal would be designated prisoner of conscience by Amnesty and the global's media.

JD Lovrenciear: When the government of the day is on the edge, it remains fearful of its own shadow.

Anonymous_40f4: Yes, anything that Umno Baru does cannot be criticised. If you still criticise Umno Baru and its institutions, you will be blocked from going overseas, going to Sabah and Sarawak, and you will be charged with sedition.

Anonymous_1423808262: Even a dead man is not free.

Headhunter: The man is gone, and they still want their pound of flesh. Sick!

Anonymous #37634848: Warning to all. Plaster your mouth! If a high-profile lawyer and politician cannot say the obvious, what about ordinary citizens?

 


 

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