Yoon Szu-Mae

An interest group today condemned a Malay Mail report today, which attempts to suggest that lawyer and human rights activist P Uthayakumar had not sought asylum in Britain as claimed.

The Penang-based human rights group, in expressing disappointment at the cabinet decision to disallow debate of Suhakam annual report, says that unless perpetrators come under the full glare of parliament, human rights abuses will not be fixed.

Media coverage provides Nirmala Bonet the privilege of obtaining swift justice. But what about other migrant workers, who face deep-seated obstacles to justice because of unequal treatment, defective laws, and selective enforcement?

The Nirmala Bonet case has fired everyone up, including the government. But a women's group asks whether ministers are prepared to make real policy changes for the proper protection of foreign domestic workers.

A Keadilan Youth leader has described as "highly unprecedented" the decision by police to arrest and charge him for remarks made while being interviewed by the foreign press.

The mother of dead detainee G Francis Udayapan has raised alarm over the condition of his body, found on Sunday evening and which was positively identified this morning.

Police commission chief Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah says while he understands the public's frustration, the commission needs to carry out comprehensive consultations on such cases.

The police commission wants a review to ensure that remand orders are only given in cases where there is sufficient evidence.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz claims that the chairperson of parliament's Public Accounts Committee must come from the BN fold as certain 'sensitivities' need protection from public scrutiny.

Environment groups tell the government that doing its best is not good enough. Illegal Indonesian wood continue to be laundered through Malaysian ports as the authorities hide behind legislative failings.

United Nations envoy to Burma Razali Ismail says he remains 'optimistic' that democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi would be released soon.

A coalition of student groups make this demand in a memorandum submitted to the US embassy here. They also want Iraq to be returned to its rightful sovereignty.

Environmental groups once again accuse Malaysia of turning a blind eye to illegal timber being traded in its ports, but authorities here say they are doing their best to curb this.

While the police are taking seriously the assault case of human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar, there are however no plans by the KL CPO to take it away from the jurisdiction of the Brickfields police.

Prominent human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar and his colleagues in Police Watch are not cowed despite the threats made against them. Giving up is not an option, they say.

Commissioner Chiam Heng Keng says the human rights body will probe the high-profile Brickfields case after hearing oral recounts from both the detainee's mother and the family's lawyers.

The opposition leader says the public cannot tolerate more delays and thus welcomes the premier's call for the police commission to start making recommendations expeditiously.

Journalists and editors are shying away from the proposal to establish a media council because the government remains silent on the laws that curb media freedom.

An opposition politician claims he saw police retrieving a body of a man in handcuffs from the river 19 days ago. The question now is could this be the remains of missing detainee G Francis Udayapan?

Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez, awaiting her appeal against a sentence for publishing false news, says she needs her travel document to attend a UN meeting in China. She will now turn to the High Court.

A director of Ekran-linked construction company Wembley - a onetime subcontractor for the massive Bakun hydroelectric dam project - is under trial in one of the biggest cases of fraud involving a public-listed company.

In light of petitions to be brought before the Election Court soon, Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman stresses the need for independent and fair judges able to give transparent judgements free of influence from parties with vested interests.

In a candid interview with malaysiakini , MCA secretary-general Ting Chew Peh said members want elections - not new peace plans - to consolidate the unity attained at high cost last year.