Will The Pakatan Rakyat Rush To Remove Abdullah Badawi?

[Adrian Wong]

Wow! Just read this post by Haris Ibrahim (RPK in danger! Pakatan Rakyat must move now! The People’s Parliament) :

Got a call from lil hummingbird.

“We must meet. RPK is in danger.”

We met.

“You look like shit!”, he said.

“I feel like that as well”, I replied.

“You remember when RPK was in remand at Sungai Buloh the last time and he refused to eat or drink and the prison authorities got so worried that they begged his wife to get him out?

“Well, RPK is on hunger strike again. No food and no water. The authorities know that his kidneys will not be able to take this for long too long. They are going to let this carry on in the hope that complications set in and that he will suffer organ malfunction.

“That’s why even though there are news reports that Teresa’s family will be allowed to see her, probably tomorrow, there is no word that RPK’s family will be allowed the same. Lawyers have already written asking that they be permitted to meet with RPK but no word yet.

“They’re going to wait until his condition is critical before they get him medical attention. By then it will be too late. RPK would already be dead.

“That’s what they are banking on. They’ll say he brought it on himself.

“You people can hold all the vigils you want. That’s not going to get him out.

“Pakatan have to move now. Anwar has to stop this nonsense of waiting for enough Malay MPs to crossover before he seeks the audience with the Agong to intimate that Pak Lah has lost the confidence of the majority of MPs in Parliament. Didn’t the rakyat reject race-based politics at the last general elections and at Permatang Pauh? Go form the federal government now.

“Anwar has the numbers already, so he should not delay any longer.

“RPK has been without food or water since Friday. He’s not going to last long.

“We must get him out now. Otherwise the authorities will be returning him to us in a coffin!

And we can only get RPK out now if Pakatan takes over immediately”.

Will Anwar be persuaded to finally show his hand and push to topple Abdullah Badawi's failing regime? I don't know if he will succeed, but IMHO, Abdullah Badawi's regime is already showing signs of failing. Look at the three preposterous ISA arrests.

When I first read about the ISA arrests of Raja Petra Kamarudin, I thought it was really stupid of the government to do it at this point in time when the public opinion was clearly anti-government. Who would believe what he wrote was anti-Islam when everyone can go online and READ his articles?

When it was reported that the Sin Chew Jit Poh reporter, Ms. Tan Hoon Cheng, was also arrested under ISA, I almost laughed. OMG. How much dumber can the government be? Her arrest, now claimed to be a "rescue operation", was so inexcusable that the BN government would be hardpressed to find ANYONE in the streets who would agree with the arrest.

Everyone knows that Ms. Tan did her job, no more, no less. She did not spice up the report. She could not have done any greater damage than what the eminently-racist and recalcitrant Ahmad Ismail did when he spew forth his racist drivel in front of none other than the Deputy Prime Minister, Najib.

As Najib did not snub Ahmad Ismail's racist speech until the issue blew up, I don't think anyone would be remiss in thinking that he too supported the same opinions. Can such a person be Prime Minister of a MULTI-RACIAL country? I think the answer can only be a resounding NO.

So, by arresting Ms. Tan under the ISA for doing her job in reporting a crime, the BN government has sealed its fate. No one in the right mind would stand up for their actions. At least, no one with even a modicum of self-respect and integrity. No wonder they had to release her after only holding her for 20 hours! LOL!

When I read that Teresa Kok was also arrested under ISA, I was shocked. The government has really gone bonkers. It's not that I fear for their freedom. It was really just a matter of time before we get them out, one way or another. No, I was shocked because it showed that the government was REALLY, REALLY SCARED. So scared that they just struck out blindly, without forethought... heck, without ANY THOUGHT at all.

Teresa Kok was arrested because the short fool of a man, Khir Toyo, accused her of asking a few mosques to tone down their Azan prayer calls. She merely denied it. So did the imams of those mosques. Obviously, Khir Toyo was trying to incite religious tensions. But who did they arrest? Not Khir Toyo (the lying accuser) but Teresa Kok (the innocent victim).

Like Ms. Tan Hoon Cheng, Teresa Kok was UNDENIABLY clean of the crimes the government accused them of. Ask anyone in the streets. It doesn't matter whether he/she is Malay, Chinese, Indian or lain-lain. EVERYONE knows that she is innocent. So why did the government arrest her? Again, they did so without even thinking about the consequences. Fools.

IMHO, the three arrests is Barisan Nasional's death knell. They have exposed themselves as corrupt and unjust politicians who are so desperate to cling to power that they would subvert justice and even bend logic. Unfortunately for them, there is really no way back.

When they released Ms. Tan, after less than 20 hours in custody, it was an instantaneous victory for the opposition and the people. They FEARED our response to the gross injustice. It is a matter of time before they have no choice but to release Teresa Kok too. When that happens, it will only show the people how foolish they were.

Now, the only person they have even the "slightest" chance of holding onto is Raja Petra Kamarudin. Good old Pete did not mince his words when he spoke out against the "false Muslims". Needless to say, many Muslims are angry against this "betrayer of the faith". IMHO, Islam can have no greater warrior than RPK but that's beside the point.

The government-controlled TV stations, including Bernama TV, have been actively repeating that RPK had repeatedly insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. How can any stauch Muslim allow such a travesty to occur? Lock him up! At least, that's the government's plan.

So, of the three arrested under the ISA, the government can realistically only hold onto RPK. And that is only if more Muslim organizations do not speak up. This is where we ALL come in.

Whether we are Muslims or not, we must speak up. We must write to the newspapers, write online, write to MPs, write to our friends and relatives. Just write and keep writing. Tell everyone just how unjust these detentions are.

Even if RPK really did insult Islam, why can't the government charge him in the Syaria court? Why arrest Teresa Kok when she obviously did not raise the issue of the Azan prayer calls? Why detention without trial? You don't do that unless you have NO PROOF of their guilt!

So, start today. Write. Write. WRITE! For RPK, Teresa Kok and all those ISA detainess, write to FREE THEM!

[Adrian Wong]

Here's a sample letter written by sam, a reader of Haris' blog. I hope he doesn't mind me posting it here for you guys to copy and send.

To the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

RE: Raja Petra Kamaruddin, detained under the Internal Security Act, on hunger strike

I/We am/are writing to urge for your urgent action on the case of Raja Petra Kamaruddin, editor of Malaysia Today who was arrested and detained in Malaysia on 12 September 2007 under Section 73 (1) of the Internal Security Act (ISA) on spurious allegations of having deemed a “threat to security, peace and public order.”

On 12 September 2008, Malaysia police arrested online commentator Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, who is a well-known anti-government activist, under the Internal Security Act, a widely criticized law that provides for the arrest and indefinite detention of those suspected of threatening national security.

Later the same day, a Malaysian opposition lawmaker, Teresa Kok, and Tan Chee Hoon, a reporter with Chinese-language daily newspaper were also arrested and detained under the ISA.

Tan Hoon Cheng was subsequently released 20 hours later on September 13. According to Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs, Tan was arrested under the ISA because her life was under threat.

The Malaysian Police has reported that it will allow family members of Opposition lawmaker, Teresa Kok, detained under the ISA, to visit her at an undisclosed location on Monday, 15 September 2008.

Meanwhile, de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has stated that the ISA should not be used against civilians, at a press conference at his home on Sunday, 14 September 2008. He was commenting on the arrests of the three civilians - Malaysian lawmaker Teresa Kok, Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng — under the ISA.

It is being reported today, 15 September 2008, that Raja Petra Kamaruddin is on a hunger strike. His lawyers have written requesting that they be permitted to meet with Raja Petra Kamaruddin but there has been no response yet from the authorities. It is feared that Raja Petra is being denied medical attention and his family and lawyers are seriously concerned about his health and well-being.

I/We call upon you to take up the case of Raja Petra Kamaruddin with the government of Malaysia as a matter of special and urgent concern. In view of the courageous stand that this man took for the basic human rights of all citizens of Malaysia, and given his medical condition, his case deserves urgent attention. I/We also urge you to take up with the government of Malaysia the use of the ISA as a weapon to unjustly incarcerate innocent persons who challenge the wrongdoing of government politicians and officials.

I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your speedy intervention.
Yours sincerely

He also provided a list of people to e-mail or mail these letters to :

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais Wilson
52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland

Postal address:
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Special Procedures Branch
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations 8-14,
avenue de la Paix
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Fax: +41 (0)22 917 90 06
E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org

Treaty-bodies mechanism:
For communications under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Convention against Torture, or International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination:
Petitions Team
Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights
UNOG-OHCHR
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 9022
Email: tb-petitions@ohchr.org

For communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women:
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
c/o Division for the Advancement of Women
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations Secretariat
2 United Nations Plaza
DC-2/12th Floor
New York, NY 10017
United States of America
Fax: +1 212 963 3463

1503-procedure mechanism:
Treaties and Council Branch (1503 procedure)
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations 8-14,
avenue de la Paix
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: +41 (0)22 917 90 11
E-mail: 1503@ohchr.org

UNESCAP
UN Secretariat Building, 6th Fl., Room A-601
Rajdamnern Nok Av.
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel.: (66) 2 288 1235
Fax: (66) 2 288 3009
Email: ohchr.bangkok@un.org

Send the letter also to:
· International missions in your country, including, where available:
· International Committee of the Red Cross
· European Union or other regional body
· Diplomatic missions of other countries

Go and write now!!!!