By Zaid Malek
I refer to the statement issued by Umno’s youth wing chief Akmal Saleh yesterday where he urged stern action against the youth wing of Terengganu Umno for its mistake in posting an incorrect picture of the Malaysian flag.
Akmal was obviously forced to condemn his own side, as he has been publicly attacking others for such mistakes over the past few weeks. Clearly, just like the shop owner in Penang, Umno’s youth wing did not intentionally make the mistake.
The problem is not that sometimes mistakes are made by people in displaying or hanging the flag. The problem is the conduct of opportunistic and irresponsible politicians like Akmal who take advantage of innocent errors for political mileage.
Had Akmal acted in a decent and reasonable manner over the other flag mistakes, he would not have been put in the absurd position of having to call for police action against his own youth wing members. Will Akmal learn his lesson?
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Akmal’s latest call for action over a flag mistake displays his gross ignorance of the law. It is basic in law that a person can only be found guilty for an offence if they have the intention to commit the offence. This is called mens rea in legal language.
Neither Terengganu Umno’s youth wing nor the Penang shop owner had the intention of insulting the flag. This is obvious to all reasonable people in Malaysia from the facts of the cases. Therefore, no offence was committed. The big fuss created by Akmal has no basis in law or common sense.
The police cannot be expected to investigate every small flag mistake in the country. If they are busy with this, who’s going to investigate rape cases, murders or armed robberies?
Mistakes happen, and every mistake is not a police case.
Hence, we reject Akmal’s ignorant call for action against Terengganu Umno’s youth wing, as well as his call for action against the Penang shop owner.
We hereby announce we are prepared to offer legal representation on a pro bono basis to anyone from Terengganu Umno’s youth wing who may be investigated or prosecuted for uploading the incorrect picture of the national flag.
No one should be subjected to criminal action for a simple blunder. – LFL
Zaid Malek is the executive director of Lawyers For Liberty.
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The Ahpek in Penang and the Umno youth must be investigated for the National flag gaffe. If mistake is genuine, then a sorry is acceptable, else he or she must be punished.
Anyone can be persuaded to do the unthinkable for so many reasons , thus an investigation is a must.This statement by Zaid Malek of LFL reflects very much of the present Malaysian young lawyers quality.
Blunder or no blunder must be proven in court. Malays, chinese, Indians who made the mistake must be taken to court. He cannot says it is unintentional and there is already a law how we should treat our flag. If we are going to take it lightly, it is better to abolish the law.