Lawyer questions Bar Council’s impartiality
A criminal lawyer takes the Bar Council to task for its hastily prepared report on the Bersih 3.0 sit-in protest.
(Free Malaysia Today) – A lawyer has openly questioned the Bar Council’s impartiality and professionalism in its reaction to the Bersih 3.0 rally in a video that is now being circulated online.
The lawyer, Ranjit Singh Dhillon, singled out Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee, reminding him that the council was not a political body and asked if it was being “hijacked”.
Referring to an interim report of council’s monitoring teams on the April 28 sit-in protest, Ranjit questioned why was there a need to publish it so soon.
“…the haste in which the report was churned out, frankly speaking, I don’t know what the rush was for. This is an issue of national interest. We, as a professional body, should take time to coordinate with the relevant agencies and come out with a detailed report. Is the Bar Council a professional body or is it being hijacked by certain others?” asked the criminal lawyer.
Ranjit said that Lim had “shot himself in the foot” when the report mentions that police were “not provoked” but on another page, it was recorded that the police were taunted.
“Now what is the Bar Council president talking about? He is the leader of a professional body, and yet in the space of 26 pages, he has contradicted himself.
“Next, he has completely kept quiet about what started the stampede. Are we professionals? Are we lawyers, Mr president? Please give us the full picture of what happened that day.”
Ranjit also defended the police, saying that they been “patient” when protesters initially barged through the barricades at Dataran Merdeka.
It was only when the crowd became “unruly” and “property was damage” that they acted, he said.
He also commended the police for admitting that there are a few bad apples in the force.
“Are we in the Bar Council honest enough to admit there are a few rotten apples on top of the heap? Please give us an answer. We are members of this professional body. We don’t want to be trapped into a cesspool of your [Lim’s] creation.”
Ranjit also said that the Bar Council seems to have been strangely silent on who instigated the breaching of the barricades.
“Law is technical… we owe a duty to the Ahmads, Ah Chongs and Muniandys in the streets to paint a full picture of what happened and let them judge. We are not a political body, let us remind ourselves of that.”
