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Livestream People’s Tribunal on GE13 #Day 1, 18th Sept 2013
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THE BERSIH PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL
PANEL MEMBERS
*Yash Pal Ghai, an expert in constitutional law and Head of the Constitution Advisory Support Unit of the UN Development Programme in Nepal
*Ramlan Surbakti (former deputy chairman of the Indonesian Election Commission)
*Kraisak Choonhavan (president of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, a former Senator and deputy leader of the Democrat Party of Thailand)
*Datuk Azzat Kamaludin, lawyer and former administrative and diplomatic officer with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
*Dr Mavis Puthucheary (former associate professor from the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya)
*Rev Dr Hermen Shastri (general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia).
The Bersih People’s Tribunal panel members – (from left) Dr Hermen Shastri, Azzat Kamaludin, Yash Ghai, Ramlan Surbakti and Mavis Puthucheary. The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, September 18, 2013.
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Free Malaysia Today
Experts: Tribunal ‘witnesses’ can be sued
Legal experts have warned that those who spoke up at Bersih’s People’s Tribunal could face legal repercussions as they are without immunity.
PETALING JAYA: Those ‘testifying’ before Bersih’s People’s Tribunal could spark a legal backlash of defamation and other civil suits, and possibly charged with sedition, legal experts said today.
Civil Liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan and legal expert Dr Azmi Sharom concur that unlike the Royal Commission Inquiry (RCI) and Suhakam inquiry, the Bersih’s tribunal was without the involvement of government officials thus, it had no legal standing and the “witnesses” were without immunity.
“However, this is not to discourage anyone but since civil experts have concurred that Malaysian courts are quick to discharge election offences cases, the people have to resort this avenue to voice their dissatisfaction with the general election,” Syahredzan said.
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Free Malaysia Today
Chemist: Indelible ink is a joke
A chemist told the Bersih Tribunal that 1% of silver nitrate used in the indelible ink can be easily washed off.
SUBANG JAYA: The percentage of silver nitrate used in the indelible ink during the recent general election is a joke, an experienced chemist told the Bersih’s People’s Tribunal this morning.
Ng Eng Ju, a chemist in printing inks, paints and emulsion polymers, said the usual precentage of silver nitrate used to make the ink last longer on the fingernail was 10% to 18% but the 1% used by the Election Commission was unacceptable.
Ng said if the ink had 1% silver nitrate it could be easily removed.
“The higher the concentration of silver nitrate, the more visible and indelible it becomes. It does not make any sense to use only 1% of silver nitrate, especially during elections,” he said.
EC deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar had said the ink could last up to seven days and was also hazardous to health if more than 1% was used.
Ng, a Monash University graduate, said the Material Safety Data sheet of silver nitrate showed no evidence of health hazard.
“There is no possibility of the ink to cause carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic effects as well as developmental toxicity.
“So when the EC claimed if more than 1% of silver nitrate used is dangerous that is a lie,” he added.
Ng said it took about 30 seconds for the ink to dry and not two seconds as claimed by the EC
Chemist: Indelible ink is a joke
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Malaysiakini
BERSIH TRIBUNAL Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan has described BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s allegation against the election watchdog this morning as “outrageous”.
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“If it’s true, then we want him to come and say it in front of the tribunal. We are not afraid of such comments,” Ambiga added.
Tengku Adnan’s allegation outrageous, says Ambiga
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Malaysiakini
BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor will not attend the Bersih-organised People’s Tribunal on the 13th general election as the electoral reform NGO itself is not ‘bersih’ (clean).
Tengku Adnan claimed to know that Bersih had sent foreigners, posing as citizens, to vote in the Putrajaya parliamentary constituency during the May 5 general election.
“They (Bersih) were there, they saw what happened, (and) they brought in Bangladeshis in taxis to try to impersonate, to try to become voters.
“Who did all this? The Bersih people,” Tengku Adnan claimed at a press conference this morning.
Ku Nan will not attend tribunal by ‘unclean’ Bersih
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Pemantau was formed by Bersih 2.0, Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (MAFREL) and Komas (Pusat Komuniti Masyarakat) to dispatch independent citizen observers to look at misconduct and irregularities on nomination day, campaign period and polling day.
Malaysian Insider
Polls watchdog Pemantau tells tribunal it received 3,000 reports on election irregularities
Independent polls observer Pemantau received some 3,000 reports on election irregularities from their observers on the ground during the 13th general election in May.
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“We tabulated the data and categorised the offenses listed as treating (buying drinks, food, etc), bribery, undue influence, unethical view, control of voters at polling centres, electoral fraud, electoral roll irregularities and abuse of state machinery by the caretaker government,” said Yasmin Masidi, one of the authors of the report drafted by Pemantau.
Head of the legal team Prof Gurdial Singh leafed through the report and pointed out that the allegations of wrongdoing involved both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
“Most of the offenses are by BN but there are some which are allegedly committed by PR and independent candidates in the list,” said Gurdial.
“We reported what we observed,” Yasmin replied.
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Free Malaysia Today
People’s Tribunal: Threats, dead aide and tearful mother
Tapah PKR candidate claims the party’s security aide’s slaying had resulted in him fearing to go near the masses.
SUBANG JAYA: Speaking before the Bersih’s People’s Tribunal panel this morning, Tapah PKR candidate K Vasantha Kumar claimed that Barisan Nasional supporters from the Tapah parliamentary constituency had supposedly threatened former PKR security aide K Murugan during the 13th general election campaign.
He also claimed that Murugan’s mother K Rajamah had also supposedly received “threats against her son” over the phone.
“It created fear among us (PKR supporters). As a candidate myself, I was afraid to meet people and even to go near BN supporters,” Vasantha said in the first session of the tribunal.
On May 4, Murugan’s body was found floating in a pond near Batu Gajah, Perak after he was reported missing on the May 1.
Murugan’s face was brutally smashed in, body slashed and tied with barbed wire. His body was dumped into the pond, weighed down with 52kg of scrap metal.
People’s Tribunal: Threats, dead aide and tearful mother
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Malaysiakini
BERSIH TRIBUNAL A PKR candidate has claimed that one of the polling centre chiefs in his constituency in the last general election was actually a prominent Wanita MIC leader in the area.
The claim was made by PKR’s candidate for the Tapah parliamentary seat, K Vasantha Kumar while testifying before the People’s Tribunal on GE13 this morning.
“She is actually a Tapah Division Wanita MIC leader and she is known to the community there,” said Vasantha Kumar, who presented before the tribunal a long list of alleged electoral irregularities during the election, in which he lost to MIC’s M Saravanan.
He said that the woman was the chief of a polling centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan (1) Jalan Hospital in Tapah.
PKR candidate claims polling centre chief was MIC member
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Indelible ink a washout, polls observers tell Bersih tribunal
Two polls observers testifying at the Bersih People’s Tribunal on electoral fraud today spoke of the ease in which the indelible ink could be removed from voters’ fingers.
Lye Yoong Seng and Joseph Chandran from election monitoring group Pemantau said they were approached by voters at polling stations to complain of the ink.
Lye, who was stationed at a secondary school in Jalan Budiman, Bandar Tun Razak, said two men who recognised him as a Pemantau observer told him that the ink had come off easily.
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Joseph, who was stationed at a school in Desa Aman Puri in Kepong, said at least 30 people had made a similar complaint.
“But we only recorded the statements from seven or eight people and we took photographs and videos,” he added.
Indelible ink a washout, polls observers tell Bersih tribunal
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Free Malaysia Today
Klang MP: Cops escorted foreign looking voters
Starting today for five days, the tribunal initiated by Bersih will examine facts and evidence to evaluate if violations were committed during the 13 th General Election.
SUBANG JAYA: Police officers were allegedly involved in bringing out foreigners from polling stations, said Klang Member of Parliament Charles Santiago, the first witness testifying in The Peoples Tribunal.
The ‘officers’ wearing police vests were seen accompanying two foreign looking individuals at a polling center in Klang during the polling day.
“Police officers were escorting two Indonesian men out of Sekolah Teknik Klang while a crowd of people were trying to stop them,”
However it is not certain if the two foreign looking men manage to cast their vote that day.
In addition, Charles added that on the same day, Klangites stopped a bus in Pandamaran, but police intervened and escorted it to one of the police stations in Klang.
“18 people were on board the bus; a huge crowd gathered outside the police station demanding to know if they had voted.”
“There was suspicion that this bus was ferrying phantom voters.”
“We took pictures of all the 18. There was one migrant worker who had ink on his index finger,” Charles added.
Klang MP: Cops escorted foreign looking voters
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Free Malaysia Today
EC tricked ordinary voters, Tribunal told
Voters in Sarawak were given little time to vote but advance voters were given 11 hours. Their travel may take half a day. It doesn’t make sense.
SUBANG JAYA: Voters in Sarawak were given as little as three hours to vote but advance voters (military and policemen) were allocated 11 hours, thus the Election Commission was indeed tricking the ordinary voters, said the founder of Tindak Malaysia PY Wong during the second session of The Peoples Tribunal today.
“Three hours, some four and some six hours. However travelling may take half a day to reach the place. If it rains I don’t think they would be able to make it,” PY Wong said during his presentation at the Tribunal by referring cases in Sarawak.
“The EC tricks the ordinary voter,” he added.
For the full article, click on
EC tricked ordinary voters, Tribunal told
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The Empire Hotel, Subang Jaya
The makeshift courtroom has the six panellists up front while witnesses give their testimonies from a dock on the left of the room.
Malaysian Insider
Bersih People’s Tribunal, the people’s court on electoral fraud allegations begins
Part of the 150 people in attendance at today’s tribunal at the Empire Hotel in Subang Jaya. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, September 18, 2013.
The atmosphere at the Empire Hotel in Subang Jaya, where the Bersih People’s Tribunal is being held, is rife with anticipation.
More than 150 people, including members of non-governmental organisations, lawyers from the Bar Council, academics, politicians and the public, have gathered in the hotel’s ballroom where some 30 witnesses will give evidence for the next five days.
They will speak about fraud and irregularities which occurred in the 13th general election in May.
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But representatives from the Election Commission (EC) – at the centre of today’s proceedings – are nowhere in the room.
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Both the police and the EC declined the invitation while Tengku Adnan reportedly said he would not attend. EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar invoked the Federal Constitution in staying away, saying there was no provision for EC to join such tribunals.
However, that did not stop a police officer from the Subang district police headquarters to attend and record the proceedings.
“He wanted to record the proceedings, so we asked him to register himself with us and he kindly obliged,” a member of the organising committee told The Malaysian Insider.
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Malaysia Chronicle
Tuesday, 17 September 2013 21:39
VIDEO
Ambiga expects 30 witnesses at FIRST-EVER People’s Tribunal
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IF YOU FACED THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS AT GE 13, CONTACT THE BERSIH PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL:
You were
1 unable to vote although registered
2 prevented from voting
3 offered monetary incentive (bribe) or gifts to vote for a particular party
4 not registered, but your name and address were on the electoral rolls.
5 threatened or told that you will be denied benefits.
SEND YOUR EMAIL TO bersih.tribunal@gmail.com.
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Malaysian Insider
Bersih’s tribunal gets EC tip-offs on likely electoral fraud
The Bersih People’s Tribunal panelists. The tribunal will be one of the avenues for Pakatan Rakyat to voice their electoral fraud claims. The Malaysian Insider pic, September 7, 2013.
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From the “thousands of complaints” the Bersih People’s Tribunal has received on electoral fraud so far, the surprise has been several “leads” provided by Election Commission officials.
Why this is surprising is because the EC is also being investigated by the tribunal for its conduct in the 13th General Election, said the tribunal’s legal team chief, Professor Gurdial Singh (pic, 3rd from left).
The “leads” provided by the EC officers have been investigated by lawyers and the findings will be presented when the tribunal sits from September 18 to 22.
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A team of 30 lawyers will collate all the information and investigate then follow-up on the complaints.
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Malaysia Insider
Bersih People’s Tribunal to sit for five days in September
The Bersih People’s Tribunal on GE13, a tribunal mooted in response to the public outcry and concerns of electoral fraud and irregularities in Malaysia’s 13th General Election, is set to hear complaints for five days in September.
Six renowned individuals, three from overseas and three from Malaysia, will form the tribunal to preside over the enquiry proceedings in Kuala Lumpur from September 18-22.
It will be chaired by Yash Pal Ghai, an expert in constitutional law and Head of the Constitution Advisory Support Unit of the UN Development Programme in Nepal, former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Cambodia on human rights and former Chairperson of the Kenya Constitution Review Commission and Kenya National Constitutional Conference.
Other international panel members include Ramlan Surbakti (former deputy chairman of the Indonesian Election Commission) and Kraisak Choonhavan (president of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, a former Senator and deputy leader of the Democrat Party of Thailand).
The Malaysians on the tribunal are lawyer Datuk Azzat Kamaludin (former administrative and diplomatic officer with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia), Dr Mavis Puthucheary (former associate professor from the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya) and Rev Dr. Hermen Shastri (general secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia).
Bersih People’s Tribunal to sit for five days in September
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Malaysiakini
The people’s tribunal set up by electoral reform group Bersih in response to alleged electoral fraud in the 13th general election is now urging the public to present their evidence before it convenes.
Bersih’s GE tribunal asks public to send in evidence
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Malaysian Insider
Bersih People’s Tribunal now open to receiving polls complaints
The Bersih People’s Tribunal is calling for citizens to povide evidence on electoral fraud and irregularities during GE13 by submitting a brief summary to the secretariat before August 16, 2013.
The tribunal, mooted in response to the public outcry and concerns of electoral fraud, was established to ascertain whether the last election was conducted in a free and fair manner.,
Renowned civil rights activist Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan had said that the tribunal may not have any legal standing but will serve as a “moral force” to publicly expose electoral fraud.
In a statement today, the tribunal urged the public to submit a brief summary if they were victims of electoral fraud of irregularities…
Members of the public who want to give statements or provide evidence can send their email to bersih.tribunal@gmail.com. – July 19, 2013
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