My Experience as one of the 21 charged with illegal assembly

It was my first time sitting in the Magistrate Court’s dock where I used to see RPK sat in there during his trial. Never in my life had I ever thought I too will be in that dock.

On the 23rd January 2009 @ around 10am, the Magistrate Court's Clerk read to me my 2 charges, they were:

1.) Participating in an illegal assembly

2.) Failing to adhere Police’s order to disperse

Then I was asked “ANDREW NG YEW HAN, Mengaku salah atau Tidak?"

“TIDAK BERSALAH (NOT GUILTY)” were the words I said in the dock.

The Court's Dock area which I had the Priviledge to sit in

A few days before the trial, my dad told me; perhaps if I plead guilty, the penalty will be something like RM1000 fine that’s all. Well, he was wrong, I was told later that the charged under Section 27 of the Police Act (for both the offences) may fine me between RM2,000 and RM10,000 and/or a jail term of not more than one year for each charge.

Nearly pissed my pants after hearing that. Maybe those Prison break series I watched might come in handy this time.

After the 21 accused pleaded “Not Guilty” and asked to be trialed, the DPP suggested a RM5000 bail for our release and the submission of our passport to the court. When I heard RM5000 as bail, I felt very uneasy but still keeping my game face in the court.

Gobind Singh Deo, who is representing most of us argued the shrewdness of a RM5000 bail suggested by the DPP. Furthermore, he continues to argue that the majority of the accused are Chinese. Chinese New Year is near and money is needed and begged for the judge’s mercy.

When comes to the DPP’s turn, she strongly believed that the RM5000 bail is important as it will ensure the presence of the accused in the court. It guarantees smooth court proceeding.

Cut long story short, the judge decided that a RM1500 bail for each of the 21 person is sufficient. The date was also set, March 10th 2009 is the date which we all need to report back. After that, we waited for 3hours for the bail process… and we are not allowed to leave the court room until bail was posted.

But I guess the 3hours of waiting was also a time well spent. Though we were charged of offences which has a penalty of jail term and fine, the atmosphere in the court room was very joyful. We talked, we joked, and we laughed, took photos and even ate in the court room. We ate Kentucky Fried Chicken in the court room. I mean, how often one can do that. It was no longer a court room but a Party Hall. Let just say it was like a family day gathering for bloggers and also Anti-ISA believers.

I would like to thank all who came to support us. Bloggers, PJ Anti-ISA followers, the priest, the reporters and everyone, your decision to come this morning and stayed with us till the end tells us that we are not alone in this fight. I would like to thank Haris for helping us before the hearing. To the lawyers from DAP, Bar Council and the Catholic Lawyers for taking the initiative as most of us were clueless about everything. Thanks also to Mr. Jeyapalan for giving me the many words of assurance and encouragement before the hearing. My thanks to Angela, for her motherly and positive attitude which boost the confidence of the 21. And of course my bailer, Miss Erica Hew, I know its difficult to open an account today as it is the last day before the Chinese new year starts, I appreciate your deed. To the other bailers too, RPK, Zorro, Delcapo and Shanghai fish, we thank you.

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The last group to be bailed out

To finish this post of mine, I would like to end with a malay pantun I composed not long ago:

Seekor cacing menelan naga
Mampukah rakyat menelan derita
Semangat rakyat terus membara
Sehingga I.S.A kembali ke neraka

See you guys on the 10th of March 2009!