Fatihah Jamhari

KUALA LUMPUR – June 30, 2017 : A lawyers’ activist group wants the Bar Council to stop defending its members who failed to adhere to the prescribed lawyers’ etiquette. Continuing to do so, argued the secretary-general of the Concerned Lawyers for Justice (CLJ), Fatihah Jamhari, will damage the Bar’s image. Fatihah, in a statement today, said it was unnecessary for Bar chairman George Varughese to defend controversial lawyer Siti Zabedah Kasim, also known as Siti Kasim who was charged last week for obstructing a government official. Fatihah argued that the Bar should not defend Siti Kasim because she had failed to follow the code of conducts stipulated in the Legal Profession (Practice and Etiqutte) Rules 1978 and the United Nation Basic Principle on the Role of Lawyer. The guidelines, according to Fatihah, stated that a lawyer is duty bound, even while representing clients and carrying out duties in defence of a suspected offender, to uphold the law and dignity of the profession at all...

KUALA LUMPUR : Any lawyer or member of the Bar Council must not obstruct enforcement officers from carrying out their duties as provided by the law, and such an act should not be condoned, the Concerned Lawyers for Justice (CLJ) said today. They were commenting on the case of Bar Council member Siti Zabedah Kasim, better known as Siti Kasim, who allegedly obstructed a Federal Territories Religious Department (Jawi) officer from carrying out her duties during a raid on an event here last year. In a statement, CLJ said they were shocked by a defensive proclamation on the matter issued on Thursday by the Bar Council’s chairman, George Varughese. “While CLJ agrees in principle with the Bar Council that ‘the independence of an advocate and solicitor to act for a client without fear or favour is fundamental to the administration of justice, this must however not be abused to the extent of putting lawyers above the reach of the law. “Instead, an advocate and solicitor is duty-bound, even in r...

KUALA LUMPUR – June 13, 2017 : The debate on public caning for syariah offenders in Kelantan continues a day after the law was passed, with those against arguing that it will reflect poorly on the country’s moderate Islamic image. On the other side, supporters say the punishment will in the long run make Malaysian society more responsible, intelligent and selfless. The Kelantan legislative assembly yesterday passed amendments to the Syariah Criminal Procedure Enactment 2002, which allow the Kelantan syariah court to decide whether an offender needs to be publicly caned for offences on sodomy, illicit sex, false accusation of illicit sex and consumption of alcohol. Dr. Chandra Muzaffar of the Global Movement for a Just World said he was worried with the positive reception of public caning among many Malaysian Muslims, adding that Muslims could risk being seen as extremists. He also cautioned that the idea of upholding Islam requires Muslims to support the implementation of syariah law t...

Di bawah adalah satu-satunya rencana yang ditendang keluar daripada penyiaran di ruang Cakna yang diniatkan untuk 05/06/2017: Aneh bagaimana Perkara 10 Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang memperuntukkan kebebasan bersuara dan sering kali dilaung-lolongkan oleh pihak yang kononnya membela hak asasi manusia di Malaysia, ternyata tidak pula dipakai secara sama rata. Hak dan kebebasan yang dimaktubkan hanya terpakai kepada kroni yang mereka anggap mewakili pandangan mereka sahaja. Sedangkan apabila kebebasan yang sama digunakan oleh pihak yang berada di luar lingkungan ‘elit’ mereka, maka kebebasan itu cuba untuk disekat dan dinafikan. Demikianlah yang berlaku dalam isu pandangan akademik seorang pensyarah, Dr. Kamarul Zaman Yusoff yang mengulas buku karangan seorang politikus DAP, Hannah Yeoh. Beliau telah menyampaikan pandangannya bahawa Hannah Yeoh telah secara salah dan bercanggah dengan Perlembagaan Persekutuan menggunakan jawatan awamnya untuk mendakyahkan fahaman mubaligh Kristi...