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12 Crim. L.F. 1 (2001)

handle is hein.journals/crimlfm12 and id is 1 raw text is: GAIL DAVIDSON, TAMI FRIESEN and MICHAEL JACKSON* LAWYERS AND THE RULE OF LAW ON TRIAL: SEDITION PROSECUTIONS IN MALAYSIA On January 14, 2000, Karpal Singh, prominent human rights lawyer, Deputy Chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) and former opposition Member of Parliament, was arrested on a charge under Malaysia's Sedition Act 1948. The sedition charge against Karpal Singh is based on words alleged to have been spoken by Karpal Singh in court while conducting the defence of his client, Anwar Ibrahim, former Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. This article examines the validity of the charge against Karpal Singh and of the Sedition Act. I. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND Karpal Singh, in addition to having been a prominent government critic for over twenty-five years and previously arrested and imprisoned without charge for over a year,2 is the lead defence counsel for Anwar Ibrahim. On September 2, 1998 Prime Minister Mahathir fired Ibrahim from his positions as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. Two days later, Malaysian newspapers carried banner headlines announcing that Anwar Ibrahim had been implicated in sodomy. The former Deputy Prime Minister was then arrested on September 20, 1998 and charged with * Gail Davidson, LL.B (University of B.C. 1978), member of the Law Society of British Columbia; Tami Friesen, LL.B (Dalhousie University, 1996), member of the Law Societies of British Colombia and Ontario; Michael Jackson, Q.C., LL.B (King's College, 1964; LLM Yale Law School, 1966), member of the Law Society of British Columbia, Professor of Law, University of British Columbia. The authors are founding members of Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada, a committee of lawyers providing support to lawyers imperiled because of their advocacy. 1 Karpal Singh was a DAP Member of Parliament from the State of Penang from 1978 to November 1999, and was a State Assemblyman for the State of Kedah from 1974 to 1978. 2 Karpal Singh was arrested during 'Operation Lalang' in October 1987 under the Internal Security Act and imprisoned until January 1989. He was released on a habeas corpus application in March 1988, but was arrested hours later. As a result of the 1987 arrest, Karpal Singh was designated as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. LA Criminal Law Forum 12: 1-23, 2001. O © 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.