………..openly and explicitly, at the 76th MIC General Assembly on October 2022, that if BN failed to win and return as the government at the 15th GE which eventually was held in Nov 2022, the President and Deputy President of MIC, the President of MCA and the former VP of UMNO would face selective political prosecution and be dragged to court—just as he and PM6 had been.
To quote ad verbatim, the President of UMNO and also Chairman of BN said the following:-
"It's not just me who will be charged, Tok Mat, you are on the list. Wee Ka Siong... Vigneswaran, don't laugh, you are also on the list. Saravanan... Hishammuddin, you are also on the list."
Political prosecution against all these?
Political prosecution is the unfair, cruel, or targeted mistreatment of a person or group by those in power because of their political beliefs, activities, or association.
Using the legal system to file false criminal charges against political rivals are amongst several common types of actions being used in claims of political prosecution.
In Malaysia, the government does not bear the initial burden to prove that criminal charges stem from objective evidence rather than retaliation. Instead, the legal presumption is that the Public Prosecutor acts constitutionally and in good faith when initiating charges.
If an accused individual claims they are a victim of selective or vindictive prosecution, the burden of proof lies entirely on the accused to produce prima facie evidence of bad faith or unconstitutionality.
Legitimate prosecutions depend on clear evidence of a recognized offense with verifiable harm or financial loss.
Political prosecutions often rely on vague, overly broad, or lightly enforced statutes (such as the Sedition Act).
How and why the President of UMNO made the claim that all those he mentioned would face selective political prosecution was not explained by him.
Did he just openly admitted that if BN were to govern the country, the acts or activities committed by these people or people close to them while they were in the government in the prior years would be considered kosher but corrupt acts if other political parties other than BN were to govern the country?
The fact that all those whom the President of UMNO mentioned laughed nonchalantly at his statement appears to lend credence to this i.e what they did previously in the earlier adminstration were considered kosher and are not an offence and punishable by law.
If those named as targets of political prosecution, trial is the proper forum for them to vindicate themselves, not by claiming in the media denying their complicity in those corrupt acts that they are accused of.
The proper place to expose a lack of objective evidence is during the full trial, where the prosecution must ultimately prove the criminal charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Malaysian courts routinely hold (such as in Tan Hoo Eng v. PP) that allegations of selective or biased investigations cannot easily be used to strike out a case before it begins.
Now that they claimed that they are on the receiving end of political prosecution, these same group of politicians should be reminded that if they ever return to power and govern the country in the 16th GE, they should undertake and implement measures to ensure the independence of the judiciary, which is essential for maintaining a functioning democracy and the fair enforcement of laws.
Have laws to ensure that the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutor – assuming the law to separate the role of the AG into 2 is successfully passed and implemented before the 16th GE - hae an ethical duty and professional responsibility to enforce the law, even when it means going after the most powerful in this country.
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