The 15 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) students who were each served a show-cause letter for their part in the protests against the alleged mismanagement of the recent campus elections have until tomorrow to reply why disciplinary action should not be taken against them.

The letters dated Dec 27, 2001 charged the students for varying offences under the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971. The violations include misbehaviour, organising "illegal assemblies" and for submitting a memorandum to the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).

A student who declined to be named for fear of further retaliatory actions told malaysiakini that six of the 20 students who went to Suhakam for help in resolving the elections dispute face punitive action based on an article by the New Straits Times that reported on the Dec 14 meeting.

A university rule bars students from making representation to any public officer, the press or the public on matters pertaining to the university without the prior approval of the vice-chancellor.

Some of the students were accused of 'disobedience' for meeting with the deputy vice-chancellor of student affairs Prof Dr Mohamad Mansor Abdullah after the campus election ended on Nov 19.

Some of the students who submitted a memorandum to vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mohamed Zulkifli Mohamed Ghazali in protest on Nov 30 last year were charged with organising an "illegal assembly".

17 show-cause letters issued

Six student leaders - David Yeo, Chong Kuen Wai, Ng Tee Neng, Mohd Ariffin, Lim Chung Hwee and Hwa Ser Piow, all of whom attended a dialogue session and submitted a memorandum to Suhakam on Dec 13 - were among those served the show-cause letters.

Ng, an ex-council member, and Mohd Mushriff Abdullah, ex-president of the student council, had already been given show-cause letters earlier for "speaking to the press" on the alleged mismanagement of the campus elections in November last year.

The university has issued a total of 17 show-cause letters to the students for their involvement in the protests.

The students claimed that the student representatives council elections were riddled with malpractices that include tampering of the ballot boxes and a last-minute change to rules on eligibility of candidates to 'favour' certain candidates.

Seeking Suhakam's help

When the students found that the university authorities' would not quell the protests, 20 of them travelled to Kuala Lumpur to seek Suhakam's help in initiating an investigation into their complaints.

The students also requested Suhakam to 'protect' them should the university take disciplinary actions against them for bringing their case to the commission.

However, Suhakam's secretary Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria said he could not promise them the protection as Suhakam was not 'empowered' to do so under the Human Rights Commission Act 1999.

Commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan said that Suhakam would try to protect the students. According to him, it would be pointless to have a human rights commission if the people who represented their case to the commission were persecuted.

The involved students are hoping that the commission would hasten its inquiry into their plight.

"After all, we received more show-cause letters after going to Suhakam," one of the students said.

New council members sworn in

In another development, Bernama reported that the UTM student council had today pledged to "always support the government in the implementation of its policies".

According to the report, newly elected council president Juhazren Junaidi made the pledge at the presentation of letters of appointment to the council members who were elected last November.

Juhazren said the council's main aim was to help the students achieve academic excellence and look after their welfare.

During the ceremony, vice-chancellor Mohamed Zulkifli told students not to allow themselves to be used by any party to cause tension in the university.