MEMO
7 APRIL 2016
Honourable Tan Sri Speaker,
I write you in regards to the arrest of the Honourable Member for Pandan, Saudara Rafizi Ramli, by the police on 4 April 2016.
I trust that you have been properly briefed on the details of the said arrest in order to deliberate on the matter as spoken by your goodself in the House yesterday morning. However I would like to point you to an eyewitness account by the Honourable Member for Kuala Terengganu, Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah, posted on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RAJABAHRINRAJAAHMAD/posts/813129748830959
It is clear from our Honourable colleague’s eyewitness account that Saudara Rafizi was treated with such contempt reserved for violent criminals during the arrest which happened within what I believe to be parliamentary precinct.
Shortly after the arrest, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) tweeted saying, Saudara Rafizi was arrested under Section 8 of the Official Secret Act (OSA). No further detail was given, but it is believed that Saudara Rafizi made reference to an excerpt from the Auditor-General’s report on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) which was presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and which is expected to be tabled in the House anytime soon.
As Your Honourable deliberate on this matter, may I humbly offer the following views for your learned consideration:
- The IGP has failed to abide by parliamentary order in the motion moved by the Deputy Home Minister on 8 March 2016 at 11.34 am and agreed upon unanimously in the House, directing the IGP to provide free passage to Members of Parliament. The importance of the said motion can be clearly construed by Standing Order 1(e) which puts the motion as the fifth item after the Election of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers and the Oath-taking by Members of the House in each proceeding of the first meetings of the House after a General Election.
- Saudara Rafizi was clearly obstructed not only in his going-froms but also in his coming-tos to the august House to discharge his duties as a Member of Parliament. He was first obstructed of his going-from at the time of his arrest around 6 pm on 4 April 2016, and then subsequently prevented of his coming-to on the same day, as the House did not adjourn until 7.30pm that day. Saudara Rafizi is also now prevented from attending the rest of sitting by a police remand. This is clearly against the principle of absolute priority of attendance where a Member of Parliament is obstructed from attending to his parliamentary duties. Furthermore, Erskine May states that “it is a contempt to molest a Member of either House while attending the House, or coming to or going from it…” (Erskine May, 24th Ed., pg. 262). The standard parliamentary reference also defined molestation as “assault, or insulting or abusive language” and the physical areas where this principle applies are both “within the precincts of the House….or outside the precincts.” (pg. 262)
- The presence of a group of more than 10 armed policemen in the parliamentary precinct who were adversarial to a Member of the House contravened centuries of parliamentary convention tracing to the times of Charles I who stormed the Commons with armed guards to arrest the Five Members. Although circumstances have changed, the event of Charles I is to this day commemorated each year by the practice of slamming the door of the Commons against the Black Rod as well as the Monarch’s denial of entry into the Commons. Although today in UK, as in Malaysia, Parliament enjoys a cordial relationship with the Monarch, such practice is allowed to continue to serve as an objective reminder of parliamentary privilege, and that no one, not even the Crown, can interfere with those privileges. The show of force by the police against our Honourable colleague within parliamentary precinct constituted an unmistakable challenge on the part of the IGP against parliamentary privilege and the authority of Parliament.
- The alleged crime which Saudara Rafizi was accused of committing cannot warrant such violent and disproportionate treatment especially when the said report will soon be tabled to the House. If there is a misconduct for disclosing a PAC document, it should fall within the jurisdiction of the House to investigate and decide on him under the principle of exclusive cognisance. House matters should be settled herein within.
- Even if there is a need for Saudara Rafizi to be investigated by the police, he has proven all these while to be cooperative and willing to assist the police in their work. And while no one should be above the law, not even MPs, “in reality, the application of criminal law to MPs must be qualified to take account of their public duties and of the purposes for which parliamentary privilege exists.” Those were the words of constitutional expert, Professor Anthony Bradley of the University of Edinburgh, when he was considering the question of parliamentary privilege in relation to the case of Damian Green, MP. (Source: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/privilegepspe6.pdf)
Your Honourable has shown exemplary leadership in the reform of Parliament. I pray that Your Honourable will now consider the weight of the present case before you as it will set a precedent which undermines the authority, efficacy and sanctity of the House upon which our democratic society stands or falls. I pray that you will lead us to uphold the honour of this august Institution against external forces trying to bully Its Members into submission, and preventing us from discharging our duties to the People.
As a mark of respect, I shall wait upon Your Honourable’s ruling before I make this memo public to serve as a lesson on this issue to all.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Sim Chee Keong
Member for Bukit Mertajam