Lawyers group claims attempt made to ‘indoctrinate’ court officers, registrars
Not just lower court judges but judicial officers and registrars at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya were ordered to attend “propaganda” courses organised by the National Civic Bureau (BTN) prior to the May 9 general election, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) claimed today.
(MMO) – The group’s adviser N. Surendran said there were new documents to suggest that there was a bid to “indoctrinate” Palace of Justice staff as well as court officers from the Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam courts in the training programme that was held between March 23 and 25 at Kem Bina Negara, Tanjung Rhu in Selangor.
“The rot, thus, runs deeper than we had previously suspected; it is not just session court [sic] judges, but the entire court system that appears to have been targeted for BTN’s propaganda,” he said in a statement.
“Those who were forced to attend the course have informed us, among other things, that it was impressed upon them that it was important to maintain the BN in power as government,” he added.
The BTN, created in 1974 as a research unit under the Youth Ministry, was later renamed and parked directly under the Prime Minister’s Department in 1981 when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad became prime minister the first time.
