The disciplinary proceedings against a second-year Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) student was today postponed for the second time upon her request.

The six-member panel set Nov 10 for the next hearing.

Lim Sook Swan, 21, from the modern languages and communications faculty, has been accused of being involved in the campaign to boycott the recent campus polls, which was marred by allegations of irregularities and intimidation.

Lim has denied the two charges against her - instigating students to boycott the polls and participating in a protest march - at her first hearing last Thursday.

She had requested for the postponement claiming that she had little time to make the necessary preparations.

The university also barred rights group Suaram coordinator S Arutchelvan ( left ) from being privy to the proceedings this afternoon despite having a written authorisation from Lim's parents to act as their representative.

Lim's other requests including having a lawyer, her parents, guardians or someone else to record the proceedings present, were also rejected.

"They (the panel) said my requests were not permitted by the laws and this is UPM's way of running the proceedings," she said when met after the 30-minute session.

"The deputy vice-chancellor (for the students affairs department, Prof Dr Azali Mohamed) even told Arutchelvan to leave the campus in 30 minutes," she recounted.

No transparency

Met later, Arutchelvan expressed disappointment with the situation and lamented the lack of transparency.

"The proceeding is not transparent. If they have nothing to hide, they should allow observers to enter (the room).

"Even a lawyer is not allowed to enter. It is clearly stated in the constitution that everyone can be represented by his (or her) lawyer in a proceeding," he said.

A student movement, which calls itself the UPM Progressive Front, also decried the proceeding, claiming that it had breached the principles of natural justice.

"The deputy vice-chancellor carries out the charging, judging and the final decision [...] this shows that there are problems with the system," said its spokesperson Kam Poay Hua.

Among the 30-odd student representatives who turned up to show their support for Lim was the chairperson of the Malaysian Students Solidarity (SMM) organisation, Ahmad Rifauddin.

He said SMM will file complaints with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) tomorrow regarding similar actions being taken against students at Universiti Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia.

No contradiction

Commenting on the issue, Higher Education Minister Shafie Salleh said: "There were students who demonstrated outside the Parliament. We have the UUCA (Universities and University Colleges Act) which prohibits students from doing so."

"Hence, the UPM student affairs vice-chancellor is calling the students to explain why they had breached the UUCA," he added when met at the Parliament lobby.

He also denied that the disciplinary action taken by the university appeared to contradict the ministry's recent announcement to amend the UUCA to give students more freedom.

"When we look at an Act, we look at their effectiveness, that's important. When a person does something that is against the Act, and the At has not been repealed, action will be taken accordingly, that's procedure," he said.

Eight more UPM students are also expected to be hauled up for disciplinary proceedings over the same matter as Lim's. On Nov 10, two other students will also be attending the hearing over the same allegations.

Today, security personnel had prevented reporters from getting comments from Azali.