NST: PM: Hindraf leaders charged with sedition after thorough probe

S. Retnanathan, BERNAMA

KAMPALA, Sat.:

Police charged in court three leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) under the Sedition Act yesterday only after monitoring their activities over a certain period, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today. 

“They are deemed to have gone against the Sedition Act and we had to take action… it is not because they had planned to hold a rally in front of the British High Commission (tomorrow),” he said.

The Prime Minister said he was told the police have been watching their activities, including recording their speeches and statements, over a span of time. Abdullah, who is also Internal Security Minister, was speaking at a press conference after attending the first day of the two-day Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Abdullah said police investigations showed Uthayakumar, Waythamoorthy and Ganapathi Rao had breached the Sedition Act. “If they are wrong, then they are wrong. We are not drumming up charges against them. For us, if someone is wrong, then the person must be charged and brought to justice. “Once in court, we can hear what they have to say… for sometime now these three people have been getting carried away saying things that are against the law,” he said.

Asked about the planned rally, the Prime Minister said the country had its way for the people to voice their grouses. “Street demonstrations are not the way. We are not a nation where the people cannot voice their grievances, but it has to be done in the proper way. “We have elections… they can contest, they can campaign, ask for votes. In our elections, anyone can contest… we have never denied any registered political party from contesting in the elections, they are free to contest,” he added.

THE STAR: Don't jump to conclusions, says PM

source

By DEVID RAJAH

KAMPALA (UGANDA): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has urged the public not to jump to conclusions and view police action against three members of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) as racial in nature.  "It has nothing to do with race. People should stop linking or viewing everything that happens in the country as a racial matter," he said.  He added that people should not be too quick to make such unfounded claims.  

"Those who commit offences will have to face charges," Abdullah told Malaysian journalists at the end of the first day of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting here.  Abdullah, who is also the Internal Security Minister, said police had evidence to charge the three men for making seditious statements and speeches.  

The police have been monitoring the activities of the three men and their group for a while now, he said. "We have to take action if these people have clearly committed offences," said Abdullah, adding that the arrest and charging of the three members had no connection with the planned gathering by Hindraf outside the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. 

NST: Hindraf leaders charged for inciting racial issues — Najib

BERNAMA

ALOR STAR, Sat.:

Three leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) were charged in court yesterday for inciting racial issues and arousing the anger of other races, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today. 

The Deputy Prime Minister said Hindraf chief P. Waythamoorty, his brother Uthayakumar and V. Ganabatirau were not charged because of the rally in front of the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. He said anyone who fanned racial sentiments and instigated the people would be charged in court as their actions breached the country’s laws. “No matter who they are, if they are found to be giving or have given seditious speeches that arouse the anger of the other races, they can be charged. “They can speak up but cannot break the law. If their speeches are seditious and instigative and can spark racial clashes, legal action will be taken against them,” he told a press conference after launching the Amanah Ikhtiar Entrepreneur Carnival.

Najib said the country’s laws explicitly state that anyone intending to organise a gathering must get a police permit but if they still went ahead with the unlawful assembly, they must be prepared to face the law for their defiance. Lawyers Waytha Moorthy, 41, Uthayakumar, 46, and Ganabatirau, 34, were charged in the Klang Sessions Court with uttering seditous words in Tamil at a gathering in Batang Berjuntai, Kuala Selangor, on Nov 16. They claimed trial to the charge.

They were charged under Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948 (Revised 1960), which states that anyone who utters any seditious words will be liable to a maximum RM5,000 fine or three years’ jail, upon conviction. The seditious tendency includes inciting racial hatred and bringing the government and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong into contempt. It applies to an act, speech, words, or publication. It includes any phrase, sentence, or combination of words, oral or written. The three are also said to be key players in the Hindraf-initiated gathering tomorrow. Police have refused permission for the rally for fear of public disorder.