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Review The Whole Judicial System To Keep Pace With The Changing World
Statement by Dr Tan Seng Giaw, DAP National Vice-Chiarman and MP for Kepong on the jailing of a Canadian journalist Murray Hiebert for six weeks on 11 September 1999. 16 September 1999

 
Mr Murray Hiebert is a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review. He was convicted of contempt of court in 1997 for an article he wrote in the journal, mentioning a civil suit about a judge's son and his school. On 11 September 1999, an appeals court reduced the three-month sentence to six weeks. Mr Hiebert is languishing in the Sungai Buloh Prison, Selangor, Malaysia.

Just like the black eye and alleged arsenic poisoning of the former Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the jailing of Lim Guan Eng, the incarceration of Murray Hiebert has caught the attention of the world.

The trial judge Lim Hop Bing said, "In my view for far too long there appear to be unabated contemptuous attacks by and through the media on our judiciary..... It is high time that our judiciary shows its abhorrence to such contemptuous conduct as is illustrated by the facts of this case."

Although the Prime Minister Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir

Mohamad has defended the judiciary and the controversial jalilings, he would have to look at these again in the context of the new world. The breath of fresh air for the mass media in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines is bound to have profound effects in the region.

While Malaysia has some advantages over these countries such as better infrastructure and , to some extent, better health service, the freedom for our mass media is relatively lacking. There are criticisms against the judiciary.

The Prime Minister has often said that there is a separation of powers: the judiciary, the executive and the legislature are independent.
We suggest that he takes a fresh look at the state of affairs.

Just as there should be a balance between human rights for individuals and the community, there must be a juciciary that safeguards the individuals and the community. This safeguard must also relflect the changing society.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw

 

 
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