I am R. Yuneswaran, the victim of the unconstitutional law. The Court of Appeal has ruled that the enforcement of the requirement to give a 10-day notice to the police prior to holding a peaceful assembly to be lawful, departing from a previous ruling by the same court. “Section 9(5) is entirely constitutional, valid, and enforceable,” said Court of Appeal President Md Raus Sharif who read out the judgment of my case #black505.
“How the same level of court can deliver two different judgments for the same case”?
This can cause the public and the legal fraternity to be confused because there are two conflicting judgments from the same court on Article 10 of the Constitution of Malaysia guarantees that Malaysian citizens have the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association!!!
I was fined RM6,000 by the Sessions Court in Johor Bahru on September 26, 2013, convicting me as the organizer of the rally (though I am not the organizer), guilty on the charge of failing to give prior notice of at least 10 days to the southern Johor Baru district police chief. Later, Johor Bahru High Court Justice Datuk Mohd Sofian Tan Sri Abd Razak allowing my appeal said the conviction was unconstitutional. This decision is in direct contrast to an earlier Court of Appeal decision in Nik Nazmi vs PP, pronounced on April 25, 2014, which ruled that Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 is unconstitutional by the three-member panel of the court of appeal.
The term “unconstitutional” was mentioned in the court of Appeal in Nik Nazmi’s case and also at Johor Bahru High court in my case, it means the judge can define from the legal point that PAA 9 (5) is unconstitutional. There is major confusion among the courts in Malaysia to define the Act (PAA 2012). The judiciary institution in Malaysia must be free from any political influences in order to deliver thy absolute justice towards the unjust.
We are Malaysian, yet we are living in many legalized restriction by the different jurisdiction in our country that contrary to the basic Human Right.
If a politician and social activist are to face injustice, I wonder how society will meet justice in our country…
-Yuneswaran Ramaraj-
Published in Malaysian Insider on 7th October 2015
