DSAI: NOT QUITE JUDICIAL RENAISSANCE YET - malaysiakini

By Shannon Teoh

SHAH ALAM, Nov 9 – Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has warned against taking the court decisions on Friday as a “signal of judicial renaissance.”

“A few judges have acted based on legal facts and their conscience. But I do not take it as something that inspires confidence without reforms in the judicial system,” he said.

On Friday, Justice SM Komathy Suppiah ruled that Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s certificate of transfer to move Anwar’s sodomy trial from the Sessions Court to the High Court was invalid.

On the same day, Shah Alam High Court judge Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad had ruled in controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin’s habeas corpus application that his detention under the Internal Security Act was unjustified.

“Recent developments have given us hope. Raja Petra was ordered to be set free but I would not get overexcited that this signals the start of a judicial renaissance,” the PKR de facto leader said.
The Permatang Pauh MP was speaking at the launch of four books written by the party’s deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali here with Unisel undergraduates in attendance.

“With a clear conscience, I have no problems rejecting all laws which are abusive, not just the ISA but any that tries to stunt the freedom of thought, including the Universities and University Colleges Act,” he told them.

Anwar was joined in launching the books by Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim who announced an RM30 million allocation for a holistic Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Social Development (SPIES) programme for higher education institutions in the state.

“It is the intention of the state to promote balanced education and outlook,” he said, pointing out that the Klang Valley has become an educational hub with over 15 institutes of higher learning, prompting Bangi, which houses several of these institutes, to be known as Bandar Ilmu (Knowledge City). -- TMI