Karpal Singh

Tim Donoghue

Description

Karpal Singh is widely regarded as the best criminal and constitutional lawyer practising in Malaysia today. Since graduating from the University of Singapore in 1969 he has been a fearless, intelligent advocate for justice and a defender of human rights in South East Asia, and has appeared in the Privy Council in London on a number of occasions before such appeals were abandoned by Malaysia. In his long and illustrious career, Karpal Singh has defended more people headed for death row in Malaysian jails than he cares to remember. More importantly he has developed an international reputation for his defence of many people from many nations who have faced the death penalty under Malaysia's Dangerous Drugs Act. One of his biggest achievements in recent years has been his successful defence of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on two charges of sodomy. Indeed, without his steely involvement at the head of Anwar's defence it is difficult to imagine the opposition coalition being in the position it is today of being able to realistically challenge the ruling United Malay National Organisation for power at the May 5, 2013 election. In this book, veteran journalist Tim Donoghue, who first met Karpal Singh in 1986 while based in Hong Kong, tells the remarkable story of a tenacious and principled lawyer and politician who has emerged as the kingmaker among the various Malaysian opposition political parties.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique
• Malasia
• Malaysia
• Malaisie

Informations

• Publié par: Marshall Cavendish International
• Date de parution: 06 septembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789814516709
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

2013 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited
Text Tim Donoghue
Photographs courtesy of Tim Donoghue and Karpal Singh unless otherwise stated.
Photograph of Karpal Singh and Tim Donoghue on inside back cover courtesy of Jeremy Teo.
Cover and design by Benson Tan
Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions
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National Library Board Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data
Donoghue, Tim.
Karpal Singh : Tiger of Jelutong / Tim Donoghue. - Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions,
2013
pages cm
eISBN : 978 981 4516 70 9
1. Singh, Karpal. 2. Politicians - Malaysia - Biography. 3. Lawyers - Malaysia - Biography.
I. Title.
JQ1062
324.2209595 -- dc23 OCN844122623
Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd
This book is dedicated to The Executed
CONTENTS
Foreword
Prelude
1 Poverty to oblivion
2 Singapore fling
3 Justice for father
4 Schoolboy killers
5 Stop the hanging
6 Remove the scum
7 Indian blues
8 One law for all
9 Payback
10 East vs West
11 On the run
12 Execution
13 Legal victory
14 Anwar
15 The big picture
16 The wheel turns
Acknowledgements
Selected references
Index
About the author
FOREWORD
Karpal Singh is one of Malaysia s most prominent lawyers and a controversial figure both in the law and politics. He has been an outspoken advocate of human rights in Malaysia for more than 40 years both as lawyer and politician.
Often these distinct roles have seemed to merge. That may be because politics and the law are inextricably linked in Malaysia. Admirers regard him as a true Malaysian patriot who has had a direct and progressive influence on his country s political process.
Except for a short period out of office, Karpal Singh has been a member of parliament since 1978. He was a state assemblyman for the state of Kedah from 1974 to 1978. He was then elected MP for the seat of Jelutong in the state of Penang from 1978 to 1999 when he lost the seat he had held for 21 years.
He was returned to parliament in the 2004 general election winning the new seat of Bukit Gelugor by a majority of only 1,261 votes. He was reelected in the 2008 general election with an astounding 21,015 votes. Then brushing aside suggestions that at 72 years of age he should retire from politics, Karpal not only retained the seat in the 2013 general election, but also further increased his majority to a staggering 41,778 votes.
Karpal is the National Chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which together with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is one of the component parties of the opposition alliance known as Pakatan Rakyat. Although Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the de facto opposition leader, the DAP is really the senior partner, and the support of its key figures Karpal Singh and veteran politician Lim Kit Siang provides the driving force behind the alliance.
Karpal was deemed by Amnesty International to be a prisoner of conscience after having been jailed for two years in October 1987 under the draconian provisions of the Internal Security Act.
Together with other opposition members he was swept up in what was known as Operation Lalang for allegedly inciting racial tension . Many observers regarded the operation as an excuse by the government of Dr Mahathir Mohamad to strengthen the hand of the executive and extend control over newspapers that had provided news coverage favourable to the opposition. At that time (as is still the case now) public assembly without a police permit was declared illegal.
Karpal is still affectionately known as The Tiger of Jelutong from his time as MP for that parliamentary seat. The nickname fits his fiery temperament and the tenacious way in which he defends his clients. It also characterises his style as a member of parliament. He has rarely, if ever, been known to take a backward step and has on several occasions been suspended from parliament on various issues of conscience - on occasions even removed from the parliamentary chamber with a police escort.
Karpal has never been known to do anything quietly and that not only reflects his approach to life, but also has been the basis of his strength and resolute nature. He has a fiery temperament, but can at times be gentle and humorous. I have seen all of these qualities over the decade or so that I have known him.
Karpal was tragically injured in a traffic accident in 2005 as a result of which he suffered severe spinal injuries and must now use a wheelchair. Despite his disability, he still carries on a busy legal practice and remains a significant opposition member of parliament. It is a remarkable testament to his courage and determination.
Karpal was a strident critic of Dr Mahathir during his 22-year tenure in office as prime minister. He has also staunchly opposed the concept of Malaysia as an Islamic state. He argues that the Constitution provides for a secular nation, with Islam as the official religion. That view has at times led to tensions with coalition partner PAS that has as one of its objectives the implementation of Islamic criminal law and the implementation of fixed punishments of hudud for certain crimes. Before the recent general election Karpal publicly stated that the DAP would veto such a move. Of course, that was understandable given the large Chinese support-base of the DAP for whom hudud would be totally unacceptable.
Karpal Singh has twice been charged with acts of sedition, first in 2002 and again in 2012. These charges span a turbulent decade in Malaysia s history. I was an observer at each of his trials. These trials - a decade apart - provide some insight into the means by which the government has since 1948 used the legislation to stifle free speech and peaceful assembly. They also illustrate how Karpal Singh both as a lawyer and politician has continued to challenge the government and assert his right to free speech.
The Sedition Act is a relic of British colonial rule. It was enacted in 1948 to deal with a perceived communist insurrection, but remained in force after Independence in 1957, having been preserved under Article 162(1) of the Federal Constitution, which kept pre-existing statutes and created the power of the Malaysian government to amend and repeal them. During the political unrest of 1969, a state of emergency was declared. Not only was Parliament suspended, but also the Act was amended so as to broaden its scope. Effectively, the Act has over the past 50 years been adapted and extended well beyond the intended scope of the original legislators.
The Sedition Act provides that a person can be convicted on the basis that what they said had a seditious tendency - which is an extremely vague phrase. It includes any words spoken which would bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the government or engender feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races . It doesn t matter if the words spoken are true or false. The defendant doesn t need to intend that the words spoken had one of the results identified in the Act. Legislation of this type hardly seems appropriate in a modern democratic nation, which Malaysia claims to be.
On 11 July 2012, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced his intention to repeal the Sedition Act and replace it with a National Harmony Act, which he claimed would balance freedom of expression with the protection of Malaysia s different cultural and religious groups. Yet despite his pledge to repeal what he declared to be outdated legislation the current prosecution against Karpal continues. At the time of writing the police had charged top opposition leaders with sedition for their involvement in public protests against election fraud after the general election of 5 May 2013. So the provisions of the Sedition Act are still being enforced by the authorities.
The first charge of sedition brought against Karpal arose from his representation of former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at his first trial on allegations of sodomy in 1998 (which the Malaysian media dubbed Sodomy I).
It is ironic that Karpal often attacked Anwar Ibrahim when he was deputy prime minister, but yet ended up acting as his lawyer after he was deposed by Dr Mahathir and charged with sodomy and corruption. Karpal explained that he was doing no more than his duty as a lawyer to defend anyone who asked for his help no matter who they were, or what the charge. While lawyers understand this