Karpal plays down chances of crossovers
Malaysiakini.com
Jun 2, 2008
Joanna David

DAP chairperson Karpal Singh believed that it would be difficult for Pakatan Rakyat to bring into its fold the so-called 30 Barisan Nasional members of Parliament by the Sept 16 deadline.
MCPX

The veteran politician said this was because the BN was vigorously addressing the issues facing Sabah and Sarawak.

karpal singh police report tun mahathir 230508"The BN is doing whatever they have to in order to keep them," Karpal told reporters yesterday after launching lawyer T Vijayandran's book, No Intention To Kill, in Petaling Jaya.

It was earlier speculated that Pakatan would be enticing many BN backbenchers from Sabah and Sarawak to switch over, taking advantage of their long-held grouses of being sidelined by the federal government.

PKR's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is believed to have helmed the talks on behalf of Pakatan to bring the defectors, had said that the defections would take place before Sept 16.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi revealed a series of sweeteners for Sabahans which is now expected to keep them in the BN fold.

Karpal also said that he was not in favour of such defections in the first place.

He added that crossovers should not be accepted into Pakatan Rakyat as the defecting MPs were traitors to their party and betrayers of voters' trust.

The book, based on the case of Indonesian maid Herlina Trisnawati who in 2001 was accused of murdering her employer, was written by the lawyer who defended her.

10 years in jail

Speaking about the book, Karpal said that it was engaging and gave a good account of what actually transpired in the case.

He said that Herlina a victim of injustice and sympathised with her. He also said that it was unfair for murder trials to be decided by a judge on his own, adding that the previously-held jury trial was better in rendering justice.

"Being dead or alive lies in the hand of a judge now. This system can only be changed when Pakatan comes to power," he said to a crowd of about 60 people.

The book narrates the plight of the 26-year-old Herlina who was charged with the murder of her employer.

karpal singh at t vijayandran book launch 020608 01The lawyer-cum-author (photo: right) explained her darkest hour in facing the courts in a judicial system totally unknown to her. He presented the fact of the case in her seven-year legal battle from a legal perspective.

On March 11 this year, the Federal Court reduced Herlina's charge from manslaughter to causing grievous hurt using a dangerous weapon.

Herlina was convicted of murdering her 32-year-old employer Soon Lay Chuan on Aug 14, 2001 in Subang Jaya.

Herlina, from Surabaya, was slapped with the murder charge by the Shah Alam High Court on Nov 4, 2004. A year later, the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling and reduced the charge to manslaughter.

The Federal Court agreed that the manslaughter charge against Herlina could not be sustained and gave her a 10-year jail term from the date of arrest. There was no evidence suggesting that Herlina had caused Soon's death.

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