DAP CEC to meet on February 16 to consider action to be taken against Mahathir for his speech to Malaysian students in London that he  would wish to hang lawyers like Karpal Singh

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Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang 

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The electronic media, malaysiakini,  has confirmed an earlier e-mail information from London by providing corroborative evidence that Mahathir had indeed made such an outrageous statement in public.

The third part of a report by a Malaysian student in London, Lee Tse Yin on Mahathir�s speech at Malaysia Hall, carried by  malaysiakini yesterday, quoted Mahathir� speech as follows:
 

"I cannot be against all the lawyers, only against some of the lawyers maybe. I don't see why I should like Karpal Singh, for example, but not all the lawyers. But there are some lawyers who of course go all out and say things   which are nasty. Then I would like very much to hang the lawyers, these   particular lawyers. But of course this is just a wish. It is not going to  materialise."

Although I have twice asked  Mahathir to withdraw and apologise for such a statement, completely unworthy of the high office of a Prime Minister and because  this is clearly no joking matter when it could have a far-reaching bearing on Karpal�s personal liberties and future, there has been no response from the Prime Minister.

In other countries and ages, a ruler whether head of state or government, can get his wishes done by his subordinates or various organs of government purely by sign language without having to be so explicit as stating his wishes in the way Mahathir had done.

Mahathir�s wish to hang judges like Karpal Singh, though qualified by the rider that "this is just a wish�it is not going to materialise", must be viewed with all the gravity it deserves, in view of  its likely impact on the independence of the judiciary and the trial of Karpal Singh under the Sedition Act.

If convicted,  Karpal runs the risk of following the footsteps of former DAP Member of Parliament for Kota Melaka, Lim Guan Eng, of being jailed or fined over RM2,000 resulting in his disqualification to stand for parliamentary office and even his disbarrment as a legal practitioner.

The DAP CEC takes a very serious view of Karpal�s arrest and prosecution under the Sedition Act -  the first test case in Malaysia and the Commonwealth for what a lawyer said in court  in the course as defense counsel in the ongoing trial of former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim - and Mahathir�s unabashed statement of his wish to "hang" Karpal.  The options open to the CEC  includes lodging police reports, instituting legal action as well as a substantive motion of censure in Parliament.

(4/2/2000)