http://dapmalaysia.org
DAP supports Hamid Albar’s call to the US to co-operate with Southeast Asia to bring Hambali to trial to ensure justice and transparency, and calls on Malaysian government to apply the same principles to end detention-without trial in the country and bring to trial all the KMM and JI detaineesMedia Conference Statement (2) - when launching the DAP’s 46th National Day Celebrations and the “Defend Secular Malaysia” campaign in Jelutong parliamentary constituency by Lim Kit Siang (Penang, Tuesday): DAP supports the call by the Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to the United States to co-operate with Southeast Asia to bring Osama bin Laden’s top man in Asia, Hambali to trial to ensure justice and transparency. Yesterday, the news agency AFP reported the call by Hamid and quoting him as stressing that there should be coordination among the United States, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia to make sure international law is adhered to. Hamid said: "I think a lot people think that the arrest of Hambali is the work of one country. But I can tell you why we were successful in this particular case was because of the cooperation between the countries, including Malaysia. "So all of us are involved in this particular case in order to ensure Hambali will not be able to carry out his activities and cause so much harm and loss of lives to innocent people." Hamid said It did not matter where Hambali was put on trial but justice must be seen to be served, adding: "So I think where ever he is tried, it does not matter. It is a crime against the international community. The most important thing is that laws must be respected. There must be transparency in the dealing (with Hambali) so that the public in each one of the countries is satisfied with the way this matter is handled.” The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Norian Mai, had claimed that intelligence which Malaysian police shared with their counterparts in neighbouring countries had led to the arrest of Hambali in Thailand on August 11. If this is true, then it is most improper and unacceptable for the United States Central Intelligence Agency to spirit him away to an undisclosed location without giving the countries which had helped the United States to track down and capture the terror mastermind linked to 39 bombing attacks in Indonesia alone and over 300 murders in Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia access to Hambali. Hamid should present a ministerial statement when Parliament reconvenes next Tuesday on the degree of US co-operation with regard to requests by Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries to have access and even custody of Hambali. I find it strange that Hamid’s call to the US to bring Hambali to trial was given prominent coverage in the foreign media but not in the local press. Be that as it may, DAP calls on the Malaysian government to apply the same principles in Hamid’s call for the US on the treatment of Hambali and to end detention-without trial in the country and to bring to justice through public trials all the alleged Kumpulan Militant Malaysia (KMM) and Jemaah Islamiah (JI) detainees in the country. DAP reiterates its call to the Government to table a White Paper on Terrorism in Parliament next week, detailing the activities and connections of the alleged KMM, Jemaah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda in Malaysia, including the roles of Hambali, the identity of Malaysians who are currently in US custody and the country’s international profile and notoriety for being associated with international terrorism. The White Paper should explain why the Malaysian government has not put KMM and JI members on trial for the “inhumane and despicable crimes” they were alleged to have committed in Malaysia. During the Ketari by-election in May 2002, the Barisan Nasional came out with a leaflet which alleged that the crimes committed by KMM and JI members included:
If the Indonesian authorities can put those responsible for the Bali bomb blasts last October which killed over 200 people, and Hamid is calling on the US government to put Hambali on trial, the Malaysian government must also take a policy stand to put on trial those responsible for heinous crimes like murder and bombings mentioned above. (26/8/2003) * Lim Kit Siang, DAP National Chairman |