Karpal Wants A-G To Drop Death Threat Charge Against Student

I'm reproducing this article from The Malaysian Insider, in case there are those who are following the case and happened to miss this a few days ago.

PENANG, May 24 ─ DAP chairman Karpal Singh wants the Attorney-General (A-G) to drop a death threat charge against a college student who had posted it on a PAS Youth website.

Karpal, who received the death threat, said this was because he had accepted the apology from the 19-year-old and the fact that he was still young.

"But the court process has to go on because my statement has been recorded. I only want the A-G to drop the charge.

"His apology was sincere and I have accepted it," he told a press conference at his office here today.

On April 26, the teenager turned up at the Johor Baru South police headquarters to assist police with investigations into the posting of the death threat.

Accompanied by his father and a PAS supporter, the student had also handed a letter of apology to Karpal through Johor DAP deputy chairman Norman Fernandez.

In the letter, he had also asked the DAP stalwart to withdraw the police report.

The youth was investigated under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation.

Karpal also said police recorded his statement this morning on his comments on Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's remarks that some judges lobbied for positions during his tenure as prime minister.

The statement was recorded by ASP Sidambaram Arunasalam of the Penang police contingent.

Meanwhile, Karpal who is also MP for Bukit Gelugor, said the DAP was saddened over the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) verdict in handing over sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore.

"Pulau Batu Puteh is only 10km from Johor but 65km from Singapore... the island should be owned by Malaysia," he said.

He said, however, the ICJ decision was binding and not subject to appeal. ─ Bernama

Parliament Unites In Condemnation!

Why is it when I decide to take a break, the 'interesting' news just never stops flowing? This is the first of a series of posts on issues I would like to bring to attention, and hopefully I don't run out of stamina before the posts are made!

Anyway, a few days back, this was on The Malaysian Insider:

Threat to Karpal unites parliament in condemnation

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat today temporarily buried their differences over Karpal Singh and jointly condemned the death threat against him. On Tuesday afternoon, a man wearing a full-faced helmet, dropped off an envelope at the veteran lawyer’s office in Kuala Lumpur.

The letter contained a live bullet and a note warning him not to question the special rights of the Malays and the constitutional powers of the sultans. It said that if he persisted, the bullet will be lodged in his forehead.

Karpal, the DAP MP for Bukit Gelugor and one of the most recognisable politicians here, has been at the centre of controversy after he questioned the powers of the Perak Sultan to override the Menteri Besar and reinstate the head of the state’s religious department.

He has been criticised heavily by BN politicians, including Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the Attorney-General’s Chambers is mulling bringing charges of sedition against him.

But all that baggage was left behind today as MPs condemned the death threat against DAP chairman Karpal Singh.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the act went against how Malaysians resolved disputes.

"If there is any unhappiness about his (Karpal's) statement, we have proper channels in the Malaysian system to deal with this," he said during a press conference attended by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, Opposition leader Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and DAP MP Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong), Karpal's son.

Lim said the DAP opposed any form of violence. “We believe in the ballot, not the bullet," he said, hoping that the police would offer protection to Karpal.

Umno Youth chief Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein, who has crossed swords with Karpal on a number of occasions, said: “We want the police to investigate and take action. Although there were racial sentiments in statements made by Karpal, we do not condone death threats. We do not support anyone who sends bullets."

Wow. It's nice to see that our Members of Parliament are human beings after all, that despite their differences, they have it in themselves to actually condemn the threat that was made towards him (Karpal).

It's the right thing to do, and these people actually knew it! I'm flabbergasted! For once party politics were pushed aside! Did you ever thought it was possible in your lifetime? There might be hope still.

Well, kudos to you, both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat MPs! Let's just hope that this puts an end to the whole issue, and that those responsible (the man in the full-faced helmet and his accomplices) are caught. I don't think Malaysia is that bad, that we have to resolve to 'barbaric' ways to end conflicts. That is not the Malaysia that I would want to live in, and its definitely not the Malaysia that we are all fighting for.

So once again,
KUDOS TO OUR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT!

Live Bullet Sent To Karpal

(Photo courtesy of http://makkalsakti.blogspot.com/)

What do you think about this? I can't afford to subscribe to Malaysiakini so this are some of the excerpts of the report from other blogs around the blogosphere:

DAP leader and parliamentary Karpal Singh received a live bullet in an envelope at his law firm in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

The live bullet was accompanied with a note warning him against speaking out on the controversial issues of Malay rights and the constitutional powers of the sultans.

The wheelchair-bound politician lodged a police report over the death threat at 5pm at Dang Wangi police station.

Met at the police station later this evening, Karpal told reporters that the envelope was hand-delivered to his receptionist at 12.30pm.

“The man was wearing a helmet and he had his visors drawn down. He left hurriedly,” he said, adding that the police have confirmed that bullet was a 9mm ‘live bullet’.

Over the past week, the renowned lawyer has had 20 police reports lodged against him after he had said the Sultan of Perak had acted unconstitutionally in the transfer of a religious department official and criticised Regent of Kelantan's message at a forum last month.

Karpal, who is member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor in Penang, added that he would consider asking for police protection in the future “if necessary”.

Asked if the incident would change his stand on the Perak Sultan’s recent order for the Religious Department Director Jamry Sury to be reinstated, Karpal said he issue had been deemed settled.

He said that he and other quarters have all voiced their arguments and that there was no need to prolong the debate any further.

I don't think there's much to comment on as of yet, plus I don't have much time right now on my hands even if I wanted to, but this is one story that is definitely bound to make headlines for the next few days at least. Developments on this issue will be all around the blogosphere soon enough, so do keep an eye out for them.

Oh, in case you haven't noticed, I've just recently subscribed to Nuffnang. So please do spend some time on the survey on the right of this blog. It'll be nice to know the type of people that actually stumble across my blog, besides those that I've personally invited. And as always, feel free to leave comments and suggestions on ways to improve this blog (or myself). Tips on add-ons to get for this blog are highly appreciated. Thanks!

(No 'usual sign-off' again today. Am I losing it?)