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 NOV 24 - Thirteen years in the courts to prove her innocence and keep out of jail for 12 months. In the end, Irene Fernandez not only exposed the poor conditions at immigration depots but also the poor state of affairs in Malaysian courts.
Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Datuk Mohamed Apandi Ali put a quick end to a long trial, not just for the 62-year-old activist but also for Malaysia and its creaky judicial system of virus-infected computer files and incomprehensible writing by court officials. "In light of the DPP not opposing, there is no necessity to deliberate further on this appeal. In such circumstances, I allow the appeal by the appellant, I hereby reverse the finding and sentence and acquit the appellant. "The conviction and sentence are set aside," ruled Justice Mohamed Apandi Ali. Fernandez, who runs the migrant labour centre Tenaganita, was initially charged for publishing false news in 1995 under Section 8A (1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 for publicising her memorandum titled "Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Conditions of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres". She was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment by the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court in 2003 but was out on bail for her appeal which suffered numerous postponements due to incomplete records. The record of appeal was finally compiled but certain notes of evidence were unclear. Last Aug 5, the case was stuck when the High Court was told a computer virus had erased a portion of notes for the trial. Last month, her lawyer M. Puravalen disclosed that the 8,998 pages of handwritten and typed notes that made up a total of eight volumes of documents were "incomprehensible". Sensing the case was going nowhere, the Attorney-General's Chambers directed against an appeal, and the judge followed through by reversing the sentence. But the damage has been done and now, the judiciary and its support staff are on trial for their shambolic processes. "I am relieved truth and justice had prevailed and the conviction has been set aside but it also tells us that the courts have to be more systematic in what they do so that the technical errors do not surface," Fernandez said as she celebrated her triumph. The government, which just approved its Judicial Appointments Commission Bill in principle, will now have to also look at the lower levels of the judiciary and support staff to ensure that the court process is detailed, exhaustive and comprehensive. Otherwise, the words of British prime minister William Gladstone, "Justice delayed, is justice denied", holds true and more cases like Fernandez will crop up, clogging up the system and denying justice to all those who seek their day in court. "We are very happy today that justice has been done... the pity is that Irene had to suffer for 13 years before justice was finally done," Bar Council chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said. Fernandez has had her suffering ended but for the Malaysian judiciary, it is just the start to clean its Stygian stables and regain its lustre as an equal and capable branch of a democratic government.
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