Eva Cheng

A seven-year battle by the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) to gain registration as a legal association failed to produce a clear result when the case was heard in the country’s Court of Appeals on April 10. The court reserved its judgment in the case after asking the government to provide evidence to support its claim that the PSM poses a “threat to national security”.

On April 12 Malaysian Sun newspaper reported that Justice Datuk Gopal Sri Ram, chairperson of the three-judge panel, as saying, “it would go against the law of natural justice if the reason for citing national security was not made clear to PSM because the party would not have an opportunity to defend itself”.

In April 1998, the PSM applied to the Registrar of Societies for registration as a party, but was rejected by the ROS in February 1999. It appealed to the home ministry that same month but was again rejected in September 1999.

The PSM took the case to the High Court in October 1999, but its application was rejected when the government claimed the party was a “threat to national security”.

Some 400 PSM members and supporters attended the April 10 hearing, packing out the courtroom.

Many organisations have provided practical legal assistance to the PSM. They included the Bar Council, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), the National Human Rights Society (Hakam) and the Aliran social reform movement.

From Green Left Weekly, April 26, 2006.
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