Defence lawyer thinks the Attorney-General will ask for postponement of habeas corpus hearing.
KUALA LUMPUR: The government will try to prolong the detention of six Parti Socialis Malaysia (PSM) members by causing delays in the court process, according to defence lawyer Edmund Bon.
He suspects that the Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail will seek a postponement when the High Court sits this Friday to hear habeas corpus applications from the six – Sungai Siput MP Dr D Michael Jeyakumar, PSM deputy president M Sarasvathy, central committee members Choo Chon Kai and M Sugumaran, Youth chief R Saratbabu and Sungai Siput branch secretary A Letchumanan.
“We are prepared to proceed with the hearing,” Bon told reporters today after filing Jeyakumar’s habeas corpus application.
He said that Gani had not responded to eight affidavits filed on behalf of the detainees.
The six are detained without trial under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) of 1969. Police arrested them last month under the Penal Code for allegedly waging war against the King. They were released and re-arrested on July 2 under the EO, which is often used against people allegedly threatening national security.
Bon said: “We want to know how they are threat to national security. Show us the proof and charge them.”
Attached to Jeyakumar’s application was the order for his detention. It alleged that he was a mover of an illegal organisation called Bersih and was causing fear in the public by instigating people to attend a rally on July 9.
Bon said the other five detainees were not allowed to show similar documents to their lawyers.
“The police are denying our right to do our jobs,” he said.
