Two Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) former student council members, Mohd Mushriff Abdullah and Ng Tee Neng, were slapped with show-cause letters from the university administration yesterday for relating their grievances and allegations to the media.

Two days ago, the New Straits Times reported that UTM's students council claimed foul-play in the recently concluded campus elections. They wanted the university authorities to conduct an independent investigation into the matter.

NST reported that students demanded for an open dialogue with the campus authorities. The students claimed that ballot boxes were tampered with during the elections. They added that nominations of 10 candidates were made under questionable circumstances.

The NST report quoted Mushriff and Ng.

The two are now required to explain to the university authorities their reason for giving statements to the press, failing which they will be charged under the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, at a university tribunal.

Second letter for Mushriff

Mushriff, who is also the former student council president, told malaysiakini that it is the second time he received a show-cause letter from the university authorities.

According to him, in the first show-cause letter he received earlier this year, he was alleged by the university authorities to have been involved in the National Students Action Front or BBMN.

"I told them I was not involved at all," he said, adding that the university authorities did not have sufficient proof against him and subsequently dismissed the case.

The BBMN is a coalition of local undergraduates who have been critical of certain government policies and vehemently oppose the UUCA and Internal Security Act.

Meanwhile, Ng said he is curious as to why he received a show-cause letter for representing a group of disgruntled students who submitted their memorandum to the vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mohamad Zulkifli Mohamad Ghazali last week.

Last Friday, about 400 UTM students gathered in front of the university's administration building, alleging mismanagement in the recently concluded campus elections. They demanded for an open dialogue on the matter with Zulkifli.

"We were only seeking clarifications (from the university's authority)," Ng said.

However the university authorities did not reply to their memorandum, he said.

Instead, the UTM administration insisted that the election process was democratic and transparent and they would not entertain students' objections.

NST turned away

Meanwhile, the NST today reported that it was turned away from a press conference by Zulkifli in UTM yesterday.

The newspaper said the vice-chancellor gave the impression that NST was not invited due to several articles which appeared in the newspaper recently on the alleged mishandling of campus elections.

NST also reported that a source close to the university administration told them that action might be taken against the outgoing student council members for going to the press. According to the source, the students would face disciplinary action under the UUCA.

In a related development, a UTM source told malaysiakini that the students will be submitting a memorandum on the matter to the Malaysian Human Rights Commission in Kuala Lumpur next week.