Migrant workers activist Irene Fernandez finds no reason to be grateful to Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail for deciding against prolonging her 13-year court battle.

irene fernandez interview 251108 07 According to the 62-year-old mother of three, she should not have been charged in the first place for exposing the alleged human rights violations at immigration detention centres.

Instead of getting to the bottom of the allegations and rectifying them, she lamented that the government sought to punish her and other whistleblowers.

"Why should I be thankful to the government. I should not have been charged in the first place?" she said during an interview with Malaysiakini today.

"The government went into a state of denial. It didn't take responsibility for what happened. No way would I be grateful to the government because I lost 13 years of my life for nothing," added the executive director of foreign workers' rights group, Tenaganita.

Surprise acquittal

Yesterday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court acquitted Fernandez of the charge of maliciously publishing false news pertaining to conditions at immigration detention centres.

irene fernandez 13 year court battle 241108 High Court judge Mohamad Apandi Ali reversed the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court judgment in 2003 where Fernandez was sentenced to one-year jail for the offence. She was allowed bail pending her appeal to the higher court.

The High Court judge made the decision after deputy public prosecutor Shamsul Sulaiman said that the prosecution had decided not to fight the appeal.

In a memorandum released in 1995 entitled 'Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Conditions of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres', Fernandez had alleged incidences of torture as well as deaths of undocumented migrants who were detained in the camps.

Fernandez was arrested and charged a year later under Section 8A (1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

In 2003, Fernandez - whose case became the longest-running criminal trial in Malaysian history - was found guilty by the magistrate's court.

Unhappy with 'thank AG' remark

Met at her office in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, Fernandez expressed displeasure with the comment by the deputy public prosecutor that the decision to drop the appeal was made by the attorney-general and suggested that the activist should thank Abdul Gani for this.

Although glad that she was released from a trial where she had to spend over 450 days in court, Fernandez however said the fact remains that the acquittal was not the result of the decision by the justice system.

irene fernandez interview 251108 08 "That (Shamsul's statement) shows us where the powers are. Ultimately, it's the prosecution who decides and not the judge. I think that's the problem in the system, in the judiciary. That's why I'm not very happy when it came to the acquittal.

"It didn't speak from the aspect of justice or what I stood for. It didn't punish the Printing Presses and Publications Act...

"You can see that the power behind (the justice system) is the attorney-general. That is worrying," she added.

Fernandez revealed that she could not hold back her tears when the court decided to acquit her.

"My first reaction was I gasped, I covered my face and I cried, because 13 years is a very long time. It's been a 13-year struggle with a lot of restrictions. Therefore, it really was to say, 'I'm free'.

"I was surprised because (while) I believed I've been right all this time and I believed I spoke the truth, what I didn't quite believe in was the judicial system. So, it (the acquittal) came as a surprise. Definitely," she added.

Struggle is far from over

The struggle, according to Fernandez, is far from over as there is still significant cases of sexual and physical abuse, torture, and horrendous conditions at detention centres and prisons.

irene fernandez interview 251108 02 "Justice is not done simply because of my acquittal. Justice can only be done when remedies are made to what I stood for, the contents of the memorandum, to freedom of expression being upheld in this country, when human rights defenders are protected.

"Only when all those things are increased, then there's meaning to the acquittal," she stressed.

Fernandez, who in 2005 won the Right Livelihood Award - the alternative Nobel prize - had her appeal proceedings put off time and again since the 2003 conviction after statements of important prosecution witnesses were found to be missing.

On Aug 5 this year, Fernandez was told that a computer virus had wiped out a portion of a specific volume of notes required for the trial.

Two months later, Fernandez's lawyer M Puravalen said that the 8,988 pages of handwritten and typed notes amounting to a total of eight volumes of documents were "incomprehensible".

Tomorrow: Fernandez: Why I defend migrant workers