Thesun 2009-05-12 Page12 When Justice Comes At A Price

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| TUESDAY MAY 12 2009

RUKUN NEGARA: THE PRINCIPLES

BELIEF IN GOD

LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY

THE SUPREMACY OF THE CONSTITUTION

THE RULE OF LAW

COURTESY AND MORALITY

THE OBJECTIVES TO achieve greater unity among Malaysians

TO maintain a democratic way of life

TO create a just society in which the wealth of the nation shall be equitably shared

When justice comes at a price SITTING in the Kuala the magistrate bound Lumpur magistrate’s to advise you as to the court as a junior reporter availability of legal aid, for The Malay Mail 13 although there is a Leyears ago, I did not bat gal Aid Bureau under an eyelid at the string the Prime Minister’s of people in T-shirts Department. with the word “Lokap” In many cases, printed on them mutterthere is a failure to furing “bersalah” (guilty). ther quiz those in the “So many crooks,” dock as to why they I thought to myself. are pleading guilty. Down2Earth Caught with their pants The most one down, they must know by Terence Fernandez gets is a sympathetic that they have no way of interpreter who tries escaping the full wrath to intercede for the linof the law, so the only mitigating guistically-challenged, including factor is to plead guilty, save the the hundreds of illegal immigrants court’s time and pray that they get and over-stayers. a lighter sentence. So it seems to the layman that Fast forward to present day and the priorities of our justice system I am better trained and enlightare more towards disposing cases, ened. Thus sitting in the Sepang rather than seeing to it that justice sessions court while observing a is truly served and that those who case, I wondered if all those who plead guilty do so not because of are eagerly pleading guilty are ignorance or economic duress. truly culpable for the crimes they Ragunath went on to explain have been charged with. that with only 14 legal aid centres Of course, coercion by police, nationwide handling between bad defences and ignorance of their 20,000 and 28,000 cases a year – all rights are among the rationale that they can take – many people are comes to mind. denied access to justice. However, sitting in the office of Even the government-run LeBar Council president Ragunath gal Aid Bureau imposes charges Kesavan last week, gave me ancomparable to a small legal firm other insight into the workings in the city – RM150 for the first of our criminal justice system interview; RM500 for preparatory – that many accused plead guilty costs and RM30 a day for each simply because they cannot afford mention date. lawyers or are ill-advised as to the This is a song for many of us availability of legal aid. but not to a poor mother who stole We seem to have a romantimilk powder to feed her infant. cised notion of the legal system, no It is a sad day indeed when thanks to Hollywood, but reality is capitalism encroaches into the far from rosy. justice system, when an accused The court in Malaysia does rapist is allowed bail merely beNOT appoint legal counsel for you cause he can afford it, while the if you cannot afford one. Neither is mother who stole milk powder is

TO ensure a liberal approach to her rich and diverse cultural traditions

incarcerated pending trial because she cannot post bail. It is on the officials of the court to put two and two together – if she cannot afford a tin of infant formula that costs RM24.90, how is she expected to raise bail of RM1,000? It is even sadder when she has to represent herself and plead guilty without counsel to mitigate, while the rapist has top-notch lawyers who are able to get him off on a technicality. Such is the disturbing state of justice in this country. Instead of emphasising on better filing systems and disposing backlogs, the focus should be on ensuring the basic right to legal counsel is accorded to the criminally accused. The refusal of the government for a comprehensive legal aid scheme run with taxpayers’ money just because the attorney-general’s chambers prosecutes in criminal cases does not hold water. By adopting the proposal to split the functions of the AG’s chambers by establishing a public prosecutor’s office, the government will be able to accord basic legal counsel without any issues of conflict of interest. It just boils down to political will. How many innocents are languishing in our lock-ups and prisons only because they do not have the monetary means to prove their innocence? The Bar Council’s 12,500 members are required to contribute RM100 annually to keep the legal aid centres going. One hopes the government will also accept the proposal for a legal aid foundation if it means justice would be better served. One is certain that instead of shelling out money for white elephants and suspect megaprojects, taxpayers wouldn’t mind their money being put to some real use such as ensuring that the loss of liberty is only accorded to the truly guilty. Terence is deputy editor special reports & investigations and is reachable at [email protected]

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A Malaysia one with nature I AM pleased to note the prime minister’s newly named Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry where the term Green Technology makes an appearance. This is significant given the vast environmental blight the country has suffered over many decades in the name of national development. Far too many of our magnificent forests have been converted to plantations as far as the eye can see, or stripped by logging, or inundated to supply “dirty” water or energy, sending thousands of our unique species of plants and animals to the brink of extinction. Little wonder then that in its 2008 report, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, placed Malaysia on red alert with the third longest list of endangered plants and animals in the world. It is time for Malaysia to pursue the potential of green technology and pivot to a green economy. Preserving our forests opens our treasury of biodiversity for R&D in biotechnology and pharmacology. Our forests also offer unlimited scope for content creation (visual and print media) to trigger diverse economic activities. There is growing academic and cultural interest worldwide in our unique plants and animals. To secure her water needs, Malaysia should begin to form expertise in water resources management, water demand management and in alterna-

tive sources of water such as rainwater harvesting, storm-water recycling and wastewater recycling. Cancelling the multi-billion ringgit Pahang-Selangor Raw Water Transfer Project that is also very costly to the environment would be consistent with a green technology direction. Hydroelectric energy that is generated from large dam projects is not a “clean” source of renewable energy although generating energy from thousands of mini dams could well be. If a high latitude country like Germany can meet a significant portion of its energy needs from solar energy, our sunlight should offer us greater opportunities. An entire economic sector can be created in the ecologically sound management of solid wastes beginning with reduction, reusing and substitution and, as a last resort, recycling. The goal should be to eliminate all land filling. All of these would create many thousands of green collar jobs in a vibrant and prosperous green economy. For the best model of how a green economy can thrive, one has to look no farther than Mother Nature herself. No doubt the new prime minister intends to unleash the power of green technology to make Malaysia one with nature. I wish him the support of every Malaysian. JC Tansen Petaling Jaya

Police must improve investigations THE IGP recently made an announcement on nationwide crime prevention operations. Several investigative departments like the CID, narcotics, commercial and traffic were roped in to assist the operations. While deployment for crime prevention is a necessary requirement yet it should not be the only policing method given prominence. Investigations are crucial. Crime prevention is to portray police presence and to detect crime. This method alone will not reduce crime. It must be realised that the criminals are still out there. The mobilisation of police in certain areas is going to result in “displacement”. That means, criminals are going to be displaced, that is, move to areas not covered by the police. These criminals must be apprehended, prosecuted and kept away from society to achieve the desired result. As it is now, the investiga-

n five years since IT HAS been more tha users received one eph tel ic est dom from Telekom ory ect dir ne their telepho Malaysia. ber of email I have sent in a num laysia but have Ma m eko Tel to s rie que reply. not received a positive directories This issue of telephone by Teluk ent liam Par was even raised in The concerned . ran nog Ma M. MP Intan rd reply, that the minister gave the standa the matter. into k loo ministry would ry is an integral The telephone directo service. Telekom one eph tel the of t par s of ringgit in profit Malaysia makes billion ers is not up to tom cus to but its service par. ntries charge Some neighbouring cou d monthly ppe dro e hav and ls only for cal rental charges. uld be rewardTelekom Malaysia sho h wit r use e hom the ing But it is not discounts and gifts. I dial 100 for en Wh y. ndl customer frie reply “tiada rd nda sta enquiries I get the w). kno not do (I u” tah Gowrikumar ru Selayang Ba ar Band

tive departments are understaffed and overburdened. The matter is made worse when the core duty of investigation is further neglected. Police can boast of a rate of solving crime surpassing the Interpol standard. But what is the rate of prosecution and conviction? Negative perception about the police mainly stems from the lack of faith in the investigation. The public generally are not convinced or trust that they are able to obtain justice. They believe that it defeats the purpose of going to the police if the criminal remains free or the investigation does not end in conviction. To regain the public’s confidence, the IGP must improve the quality of investigation and ensure all departments are sufficiently staffed. The police must stress on specialisation, accentuate professionalism and place the right officers in the right places. SRM Johor Baru

Another tourist draw for Ipoh I SEE no reason why a plaque can’t be put up at the spot where Pakatan Rakyat had called a state assembly. Never has an assembly been solemnised under a tree. This is certainly history. You can’t deny it. As long as the plaque does not prove a nuisance to the public, why not let it stand there? First, the locals would like to satisfy their curiosity by visiting the site; and, this encourages what we call “the domestic

tourism”. Second, the curious foreign tourists would surely like to have a peek at “the tree of democracy”. This means “money pouring in”. While the economy is sluggish, why not turn “the political fracas” into “an economic opportunity”? At the height of the US presidential campaign, toy figures of Obama, McCain and other politicians were on sale. I wonder if we can do the same here. Toy manufacturers should consult the relevant authorities. Yu So Phin Puchong