The Bar Council annual general meeting yesterday passed a resolution to condemn police high-handedness in dealing with suspects and criminals.

It expressed the council's concern over the high number of people shot dead, which averages about 1.3 death a week over the past 10 years, as well as about o­ne death a week in police custody from 2000 to 2002.

The newly elected Bar Council president Khutubul Zaman Bukhari told a media conference after the meeting that the 2,078 lawyers who turned up at the AGM yesterday also called o­n the police to be more transparent about cases of the death of suspects while in their custody.

"During the inquest, we (the lawyers) must be allowed to carry out investigations into whether the death is due to police negligence or misadventure," he added.

In November last year, Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung told parliament that 34 people died in police detention since 2000, 18 of them during the first nine months of 2002.

Providing a breakdown of the figures, Chor said six people died in 2000, ten last year while the remaining deaths occurred this year. He, however, ruled out police brutality as the cause of death.

A person's rights

Khutubul Zaman said another resolution pertaining to the rights of arrested persons was also passed.

He said the Malaysian Bar has always adopted the position that persons arrested should be accorded rights as guaranteed under the Federal Constitution.

At the AGM, Yeo Yang Poh was elected vice president, Mohd Sofian Razali secretary and Malik Imtiaz Sarwar treasurer.

Meanwhile, addressing the Malaysian Bar annual dinner in Kuala Lumpur last night, Acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called o­n Malaysian businesses to support local law firms to enable them to build up confidence and capability to compete with the best in the world.

Target foreign businesses

He said British and American law firms have a global presence because they were supported by their own businesses.

The New Sunday Times reported today that Abdullah had questioned why Malaysian businesses turned to foreign law firms when they should be giving local o­nes a chance.

On the other hand, Abdullah wanted Malaysian lawyers to be able to act as a reliable support for Malaysian businesses venturing abroad, as well as to be able to target potential businesses for the country.