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27 April 2019
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Pertubuhan Sahabat Erat dan Amanat Rakyat (Sedar Malaysia) has lodged a police report against activist and intellectual Syed Husin Ali (photo above) for making comments critical of the monarchy.
Sedar Malaysia, which had previous organised townhall sessions for former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, took issue with Syed Husin’s comment made during a forum on the Rome Statute in Universiti Malaya today.
Its president Nazrin Norani, who was present during the forum, lodged a police report at the Pantai police station.
During the forum, Syed Husin had commented about the royalty’s involvement in state administration and economic affairs.
“Senator Syed Husin Ali’s had also uttered words that would incite people to go against the Malay rulers.
“I urge the police to investigate the organisers, moderators and panellist,” Nazrin had said in his police report.
A former anthropology and sociology professor, Syed Husin went on to lead Parti Rakyat Malaysia and was involved in merging the party with Parti Keadilan Nasional to form PKR.
He served as a senator from 2009 to 2012.
The forum today was organised by student activists to promote dialogue on the Rome Statute.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/474005
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KUALA LUMPUR: Sociologist and veteran politician Syed Husin Ali believes that a royal backlash against the Rome Statute stemmed from fears for their own position in the face of increasing scepticism about the use of royal power.
He said the conservatism and feudalism prevalent among the Malay masses had also been made use of by some politicians to raise fears about the future of the community as a whole, leading to royal pressure to reject the Rome Statute.
Speaking at a forum today on Malaysia and the Rome Statute, Syed Husin said the Malay Rulers had felt threatened by increasing criticism of their role in politics, business and the economy.
Threats of criminal action had also been made against members of a royal household, Syed Husin said, quoting from a foreign report about a London-based lawyer who made allegations of serious criminal offences and said he would seek prosecution.
He said he hoped such allegations were not true. However, it would explain the objections raised by members of the Johor royal family, he said.
Syed Husin said the backlash against the Rome Statute, which sets up the International Criminal Court, had been positioned not merely to about the position of the Malay rulers themselves, but also to strengthen the position of the Malay community because the rulers represent a constitution safeguard protecting special privileges of the Malays.
Syed Husin, a former leader of Partai Sosialis Rakyat and PKR, noted that monarchies in Japan, Sweden and Denmark had ratified the Rome Statute, in contrast to the objections raised in Malaysia about the loss of royal immunity from prosecution.
He said there had been increasing criticism over the years about the role of the rulers in politics and business, as well as questions raised about the cost to the Malaysia economy of carrying nine royal households, so much so that some sections of society had even questioned the need for royalty.
Syed Husin said the fears of the royal houses had been reinforced by a memorandum submitted to the Conference of Rulers which had alleged that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong could be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court because of his position as head of the armed forces.
(The government has dismissed such fears, on the basis that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is a constitutional monarch without executive authority. However, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said that royalty were also subject to Malaysian law.)
Syed Husin said there had been increasing concern among the rakyat about the rulers offending the principles of the Federal Constitution by interfering in politics, business and the economy.
He said such concerns were “causing them to worry”, despite the traditional and ingrained deference shown by the Malay community towards the Rulers.
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A MALAY ruler from a “certain southern state” became the object of debate at a forum on the Rome Statute in Kuala Lumpur today, with panellists questioning the unnamed ruler’s motives for opposing the international treaty.
Academic Syed Husin Ali questioned whether the ruler’s objection to the treaty was because of allegations on social media that his royal family was being investigated for possible crimes.
Although the ruler was never named, the audience in the standing room-only lecture theatre appeared to intimate his identity, given that the royal figure had been a vocal and public opponent of the Pakatan Harapan government’s plans to ratify the international treaty.
Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim had openly criticised the Rome treaty, saying that the Malay rulers and the positions of Malays and Islam would no longer be relevant if Putrajaya signs it.
The treaty and the International Criminal Court that it creates also did not have jurisdiction over the special position of Malays or Islam.
Former diplomat and G25 member Noor Farida Ariffin also revealed how the former Barisan Nasional cabinet did not object to the treaty’s ratification and she had personally led the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s efforts to implement it.
“However, a certain royal used emotive arguments to provoke the Malays by saying the Rome Statute was against the position of the Malays, Islam and Malay rulers,” she said.
But the ruler, who Farida did not name, did not detail in what way the treaty would violate all these institutions.
“It’s a total misrepresentation of Islam because the Rome treaty is against war crimes and genocide. Islam does not condone any of these crimes,” Farida said at the forum.
Syed Husin, who is a former senator, said it appeared that “the southern ruler” seemed threatened by the treaty’s ratification.
“I myself have asked why is he feeling threatened, because I am from his state and he is also my ruler. I have no answer to this but something I recently read of social media provides a clue.”
Syed Husin then proceeded to read out a Facebook post titled “end of the road” that claimed to describe efforts by a prominent human rights lawyer based in London who had been documenting and investigating abuses and crimes allegedly perpetrated by the Johor royal family.
“I hope that this article is not true. But if it is, this may be the reason why some people are afraid of the Rome statute,” he said. – THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT
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