Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Social Political Buzz & Bulls

'Princess of Malay traitors' gives Perkasa royal lashing

Speaking to reporters after filing the report with the Dang Wangi district police headquarters this afternoon, Federation of Malay Students' Union secretary-general Zambry Mohd Isa had warned the MP not to question the Article.

By Patrick Lee and Stephanie Sta Maria, Free Malaysia Today

FULL REPORTKUALA LUMPUR: Umno leaders labelled her father Anwar Ibrahim a traitor to the Malay race, and now the same title has been bestowed on Nurul Izzah.

Adding a royal touch to their rebuke, the Malay right-wing critics labelled her as the "princess of Malay traitors" and filed a police report over a recent article she wrote.

The bone of contention was her interpretation of Article 153 in the Federal Constitution which touches on Malay rights.

According to the Lembah Pantai MP, the Article only referred to the "special position" of the Malays as opposed to "special rights".

However, Nurul lambasted her critics, especially Perkasa, and stopped short of calling them ignorant for not being able to broach the subject in a rational manner.

Speaking to reporters after filing the report with the Dang Wangi district police headquarters this afternoon, Federation of Malay Students' Union secretary-general Zambry Mohd Isa had warned the MP not to question the Article.

Also taking a swipe at her was Perkasa leader Armand Azhar Abu Hanifah, who said: "It (Article 153) is not supposed to be discussed outside of Parliament."

He warned that questioning the Article could spark off tension in the country.

Calling Nurul a fledgling MP, Armand advised her to consult her senior colleagues on what issues should be discussed "before opening her mouth".

"This is her first term. Perhaps she is not well-versed or is politically immature regarding Article 153," he said.

Perkas! a Wirawa ti chief Zaira Jaafar, who was also present, cautioned Nurul against "stirring a hornet's nest".

"As an MP, she should not say such things," she said, adding that Nurul was not acting like a Malay.

Nurul: Shameful and pathetic

In an immediate reaction, Nurul had described the police report against her as a "shameful and pathetic" action which justified the prejudice towards groups such as Perkasa.

"There was a reason why I wrote the article in two languages. So that it would not get lost in translation. But obviously these groups did not take the time to read it thoroughly. Their reaction is a testament to their failure in arguing in a rational manner on the issues raised.

"It also shows that our prejudice towards these Malay right-wing groups are justified. I invite you for a debate and this is the way you respond? It is shameful!" she told FMT.

READ MORE HERE


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Hardtalk or money talks? Saga of the aborted RPK interview

Bear in mind that RPK is no suddenly arrived personality. The BBC had previously given press coverage to the Malaysian government's persecution of him, and several times.

CPI

Hardtalkis a flagship BBC television programme that has gained a large global audience due to its style of tough questioning.

According to its media note,Hardtalk"asks the difficult questions and gets behind the stories that make the news -- from international political leaders to entertainers; from corporate decision-makers to ordinary individuals facing huge challenges."

This reputation of independence and fearlessly getting the stories behind the news is now blotted.

On Aug 10, Nicholas Davis Blakemore, BBC planning editor sent an e-mail note to Raja Petra Kamarudin asking if he would be interested in appearing inHardtalk.

Following confirmation from RPK (readers can read the full correspondencehere), the live interview was to have been conducted on Sept 1.

On Aug 29,Hardtalkproducer Bridget Osborne informed RPK that the interview was cancelled. This abrupt turnabout is quite unprecedented in the programme's 13-year history. According to Osborne, the cancellation was due to legal concerns.

Since then the BBC has issued a further note in which its Global News senior press officer Peter Connors said in an e-mail reply: "It became clear in our research any comprehensive interview with formerMalaysia Todayeditor Raja Petra would prominently feature issues that are currently the subject of a current court case in Malaysia, which raise issues of defamation."

It is unclear from Connors' e-mail which "current court case" is being referred to.

Even more cryptic is the allusion to "defamation". Who might it be that is likely to be defamed should RPK appear on air?

The BBC explanation is uncharacteristic of its traditional journalism! ethos.< /p>

In the past, the programme has not been afraid of controversy arising from its choice of personalities and the discussions that arose during the course of their interviews. Surely the programme which prides itself on undertaking meticulous and in-depth research to accompany the interviews would have done its homework on the legal implications before any official invitation was extended by Blakemore to RPK.

Bear in mind that RPK is no suddenly arrived personality. The BBC had previously given press coverage to the Malaysian government's persecution of him, and several times.

Nonetheless, Connors is correct to infer that the topic -- once RPK started hard talking -- may submerge viewers in turbulent waters.

Let's just suppose the Q&A had gone ahead. If 'the news' is a court case as revealed by Connors, what might be 'the difficult questions' asked byHardtalkto get the real story behind the sandiwara.

If it is the Altantuya murder case, then there is an added dimension. One of the accused was Abdul Razak Baginda who brokered arms deals worth billions of ringgit for the Malaysian Defence Ministry.

A political commentator, Mariam Mokhtar,writing in theMalaysian Mirrorspeculated on what could have caused BBC to pull the plug. Mariam is sceptical that the British broadcaster would be afraid of legal threats and suggests that theHardtalkclimbdown might be due to something "purely economic" and the pressure coming instead from the British government to protect its arms sales to Malaysia's Defence Ministry.

For now, and until a whistleblower steps forward to provide details which can throw light on the unexpected turn of events, we can only ponder upon the reasons suggested by analysts who have been closely following this astonishing capitulation byHardtalk.

Whist some of their views may appear to be highly speculative, it is however still inconceivable that the decision was arrived at by theHardtalkprogramming staff themselves.

! READ MOR E HERE


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Court adjourns Home Ministers appeal against Raja Petra's release from ISA detention

(The Star) -The Federal Court has adjourned the hearing of the Home Minister's appeal against Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin's release from detention under the Internal Security Act to a date to be fixed.

This is after the prosecution failed to serve the notice of appeal to Raja Petra causing his absence at the hearing Thursday.

At the outset of court proceedings, DPP Tun Abd Majid Tun Hamzah notified the Federal Court that the respondent was not served with the notice of appeal for the hearing which resulted in his absence for the case and asked the apex court to set another day to hear the appeal.

When Federal Court judge Justice Hashim Yusoff asked him what the chances were of them serving the notice, DPP Tun Abd Majid said Raja Petra's addresss was still unknown.

However, Raja Petra's lead counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said the defence team was proceeding with the case based on the instructions given by the editor last year.

"We have not received fresh instructions from Raja Petra. Through the newspapers, MACC had been in touch with him," he said.

Malik also stated that the matter was academic in relation to the Sept 22 detention order.

"There is nothing stopping the minister from issuing a new order as it is already two years," Malik said.

DPP Tun Abd Majid, however, stated that it would only be academic after Sept 21.

"Now, the order is still valid," he said.

Chief Judge of Malaya Justice Arifin Zakaria, who chaired a three-man panel, adjourned the appeal to be heard to a date yet to be fixed.

With him were Justice Hashim and Federal Court judge Justice James Foong Cheng Yuen.

Speaking to reporters later, DPP Tun Abd Majid, said "We do not know his whereabouts. The right address is not known to us".

On Nov 7, 2008 Shah Alam High Court freed Raja Petra after it found that his two-year detention order under ISA was unlawful. He was held for 56 days.

Raja Petra was arrested on Sept 12, 2008! as he w as deemed a threat to national security and the order to detain him under the ISA was issued on Sept 22, 2008. He was held for 56 days.

He was detained on the grounds that he, among others, owned and operated the Malaysia Today website and had intentionally and recklessly published his articles and also readers' comments on Malaysia Today that were critical of and insulted Muslims, the purity of Islam and the personality of Prophet Muhammad.

In filing the habeas corpus application, Raja Petra named the Home Minister as the respondent.


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