Anti-communist slogans echoed in Georgetown today as some 150 former army personnel gathered to protest against the application by ex-Communist Party Malaya (CPM) leader Chin Peng to return to Malaysia.

The 30-minute demonstration outside the Penang High Court building saw the ex-servicemen holding placards and banners condemning the 81-year-old exiled communist leader as a murderer, traitor and terrorist.

They also chanted anti-communist and anti-Chin Peng slogans.

Chin Peng's lawyer Darshan Singh Khaira condemned the protest and questioned the authorities' double standards.

"It was an illegal demonstration and the police allowed it to take place. Would the police have allowed a similar pro-Chin Peng demonstration?" he asked.

Darshan said he would file a police report against the demonstrators.

Transfer case

Earlier this morning, the Attorney-General's Chambers applied to the court to transfer the hearing of Chin Peng's application to the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Senior federal counsel Umi Kalthom Abdul Wahab said the Kuala Lumpur High Court would be the appropriate and ideal legal bench to hear the case, as all government departments are located at the federal capital.

"It will help to conduct a smooth and quick hearing on the case," she told Judge Mohd Noor Abdullah.

Umi Kalthom, who heads the civil division of the AG's Chambers, was assisted by federal counsel Azizah Nawawi.

Chin Peng's four-member legal team, led by Darshan, however, told the court that the AG's Chambers was citing a lame excuse to transfer the case.

He said it does not make any sense for a case to be transferred on the ground that Kuala Lumpur houses all government departments.

"Then all future cases would have to be moved to the federal high court. Any high court in the country is qualified to hear and decide on Chin Peng's case," he added.

Mohd Noor set July 25 to decide on the application and another four applications, consisting three from Chin Peng and one from the AG's Chambers.

In his affidavit filed on March 4, Ong Boon Hua @ Chin Peng had applied to be allowed to return to Malaysia with hundreds of his former CPM comrades. He is currently living in Thailand.

He had also filed a supplementary application seeking a court order allowing him to enter the country temporarily and attend the legal proceedings of his application.

Chin Peng, who was born in Sitiawan, Perak, has also applied to the high court to order the government to produce the list of ex-communists who had signed up to return to Malaysia.

Documents required

The AG's Chambers applied for a court order to get Chin Peng to produce his Malaysian birth certificate and citizenship.

According to Darshan, nearly 300 ex-communists, including Chin Peng, had signed up within a year after the 1989 Haadyai Peace Accord, to return to Malaysia.

Chin Peng was the 11th secretary-general of the once powerful CPM, which fought against British colonial rule, the Japanese occupation, and the independent government of Malaya (then comprising Malaysia and Singapore) for more than 40 years.

Even though the CPM's armed struggle ended with the peace accord, the government had rejected his entry, claiming that Chin Peng was linked to a banned organisation with a history of perpetrating terrorism in the country.

The premier's office has left it to the court to decide the matter.

In his application, Chin Peng cited the terms in the 1989 Haadyai Peace Accord, which was witnessed by a four-member representation of the Thailand government.

Article 3 of the Administrative Agreement between the Malaysian government and CPM to terminate hostilities states that the government shall allow former members of CPM and the party's disbanded armed units to settle down in Malaysia, if they desire to do so.

Article 3.1 states that members of Malaysian origin who wish to settle down in Malaysia shall be allowed to do so in accordance with the laws here.

Article 3.2 stipulates that members who are not of Malaysian origin may be allowed to settle down in Malaysia in accordance of the country's laws, if they wish to do so.

Article 4 states that the Malaysian authorities shall assist the members in starting their life afresh.

Then Home Ministry secretary-general Wan Sidek Wan Abdul Rahman, Chief of Defence Forces Gen Hashim Mohd Ali and Inspector-General of Police Mohd Hanif Omar signed the treaty on behalf of the government.

Chin Peng, CPM chairperson Abdullah CD and central committee member Rashid Maidin represented the party.