abuse of power – Page 2 – the _

[1288] Of free Nat

I wish to register my support for a friend.

Fair use. http://mob1900.blogspot.com/2007/07/free-nat-now.html

I wonder if this has anything to do with Tian Chua’s French dinner for 3. Nat after all is quite close to him.

Like other bloggers, I first met him at BUM 2007.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

p/s — poster taken from Mob’s Crib.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved

pp/s — more from Elizabeth Wong:

Close to noon, Sivarasa Rasiah, one of Nat’s legal counsels, received a call from another lawyer, P. Uthayakumar, who happened to be at the Duta magistrate’s court for another remand hearing. Uthaya spotted a handcuffed Nat and realised what the police were trying to do – conduct the hearing without the presence of Nat’s lawyers. Sivarasa and Latheefa Koya rushed there and taruh the cops kau-kau (yeh!).

[…]

We waited for almost 2 hours outside the court room. Finally the lawyers came out and informed us that the police tried to ask for the maximum of 14 days remand (!) and got 4 days instead.

[…]

The police said Nat is being investigated for an offence under Section 8 of the Officials Secrets Act (changed from last night’s Section 420 of the Penal Code), i.e. possession of ‘secret’ documents published on the internet, which alleged that deputy Minister for Internal Security, Johari Bahrum, was involved in the ‘fee-for freedom’ scandal. [Nat Tan’s lawyer: An act of oppression. Elizabeth Wong. July 14 2007]

[1152] Of she invokes the Fifth Amendment

As Alberto Gonzales gets into trouble, his aide invokes the Fifth Amendment:

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ liaison with the White House will refuse to answer questions at upcoming Senate hearings about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, citing her Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, her lawyer said Monday.

“I have decided to follow my lawyer’s advice and respectfully invoke my constitutional right,” Monica Goodling, Gonzales’ counsel and White House liaison, said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee. [Gonzales aide to invoke Fifth Amendment. AP via Yahoo! March 27 2007]

I been following this issue quietly since the NYT first brought the issue of mass firing of attoneys not to long ago. Today, in response to the Fifth Amendment protection, the NYT rightly describes what many would describe the current situation:

The news that Monica Goodling, counsel to the attorney general and liaison to the White House, is invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination takes the United States attorney scandal to a new level. [Time for Answers. NYT. March 27 2007]

There are a few formulae used to describe free falling in physics. Perhaps, those who wish to further understand the gravity of what is going would benefit by reading classical mechanics.