Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail should withdraw from personally appearing before the Shah Alam Sessions Court in the trial of the 31 Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) supporters charged with attempted murder.

This call was made by former UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Param Cumaraswamy.

“While the AG legally has a right of audience before all courts in Malaysia yet he should not personally appear for the prosecution before Sessions and Magistrates Courts,” he said in a brief statement today.

He said the AG is a member of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, which appoints, promotes and disciplines Session Court judges and magistrates.

“His appearance before these judicial officers could be intimidating and as such could affect their independence and impartiality when particularly their promotions depend on the AG being one of the members of the commission.

“The court should not only be independent and impartial but must be seen to be so particularly by those who appear before it,” he added.

The 31 individuals were charged with attempting to murder a policeman in Batu Caves on Nov 25, the day Hindraf organised a massive rally in Kuala Lumpur.

In a related development, PKR said the decision to charge the 31 with attempted murder and deny them bail is an injustice of the highest order.

“It is ironic that the AG saw fit to attend personally for the case when he has ignored many other more serious and urgent cases,” said party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in a statement today.

She said the prosecution and police should focus on combating serious crime instead of infringing on the fundamental rights of Malaysian citizens.

On Tuesday, Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang had asked if the Hindraf case was more important than the high-profile murder of Mongolian national Altantunya Shaariibuu.

PM cannot understand

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he failed to understand why a group of Malaysians would want to tarnish the image of their own country by making baseless allegations.

Stressing that he dislikes such groups, the premier said the incomprehensible action by Hindraf has gone overboard and foreigners who do not know anything about Malaysia may believe the allegations.

“...for those who don’t know, they may be swayed (by the allegations), they will definitely believe especially when they do not know our country well enough, do not have enough information, they may believe (the allegations)” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Abdullah pointed out that if the Barisan Nasional (BN) government was cruel to any particular race, it would not have remained in power for so long.

“We want to keep a government which practices power sharing so that the country is peaceful and there will be nothing which will destroy any particular race.

“Fifty percent of the cabinet is made up of non-Malay and non-Muslim ministers, they don’t close their eyes to whatever Umno does in this government,” he said.

The premier stressed that the government loves and helps all, irrespective of race and religion.

In a memorandum to the British government, Hindraf claimed that the Malaysian government has marginalised the Indians and subjected them to ethnic cleansing.