Six Universiti Malaya (UM) student leaders have been hauled up to face the Student Affairs Department disciplinary committee for their involvement in an ‘unauthorised press conference’ held on campus last year.
When contacted, Suhail Wan Azahar confirmed with Malaysiakini that he is the among the six summoned to attend the disciplinary hearing on Feb 15, for holding a press conference on campus grounds in December last year without prior permission.
“Yes, I have received the notice to attend a hearing. I will be there. I am always prepared (for any outcome).
“We are now on our semester break and classes will only resume on Feb 22. But I will still come back (to attend the hearing),” he said.
Suhail, who is the Universiti Malaya Muslim Students Association (PMIUM) exco member, noted that some of his friends may have to cut short their Chinese New Year celebrations.
Others facing disciplinary action are PMIUM exco members Nur Hananie Chow Abdullah, Fahmie Nuaiman, and Muhammad Luqman, together with Universiti Malaya Association Youth (Umany) president Ho Chi Yang and vice-president Chua Hun Chi.
Referring to a notice dated Feb 4, Suhail said it was stated that the students were found to have committed disciplinary offences under Section 16C of University Malaya (Disciplinary Proceedings) 1999, on two grounds.
The second offence, he said, is in relations to having allegedly tarnished the university’s image and damaging its interests through holding a press conference without prior permission.
The press conference was held to protest the varsity's decision to introduce a five gigabyte quota on free Internet access at the start of the new semester in March, a charge which UM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin has denied.
The notice was signed by UM disciplinary committee chairperson Prof Sabri Musa.
If found guilty, the students may face punishment ranging from a warning, RM200 fine, suspension, to sacking from the university.
Date during CNY break
Meanwhile, Ho, in a statement, also said the university had acted as if they were willing to listen to students’ voices by cancelling a purported plan to introduce a Wi-Fi quota on campus, after the matter was raised by PMIUM and Umany.
“But soon, the university issued a warning letter to these students, intended to deter other students. When we all think that this issue has come to an end, the university authority spares no one by issuing a notice of proceeding to us.
“Also, we question the motive of the university for choosing to hold the proceeding on Feb 15, which is during the Chinese New Year (break),” said
Ho claimed that the date was chosen by UM to minimise protests from other students who would still be away on holiday.
UM’s move to hold the disciplinary hearing has also been condemned by both PKR student bureau chairperson Fahmi Zainol and DAP Socialist Youth (Dapsy) varsity affairs bureau director Leong Yu Sheng.
Fahmi, who together with six others, were found guilty of holding a rally on campus, noted in a statement that UM administration has not learnt its lesson from the public outcry that was raised during the case that happened in October 2014.
Leong, in a separate statement, hit out at UM for taking action against students for exercising their constitutional right to freedom of expression, instead of helping students cope with the rising cost of living.
