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Thyme and punishment—N.Z. prisoners go gourmet Posted: 25 Aug 2013 09:16 PM PDT August 26, 2013 Latest Update: August 26, 2013 08:16 pm Chef Martin Bosley posing in the kitchen where he helps inmates from Rimutaka prison put on a fine dinning experience in the Upper Hutt area of Wellington.Whipping up a blackcurrant jus in Wellington's Rimutaka Prison, shaven-headed convict "Pete" rhapsodises about his new-found love of gourmet cooking, the swastika tattoos on his hand blurring as he whisks intently. "You can get five dishes, five different flavours, from one fish," the New Zealander says. "I thought normal fish all just tasted the same but I've learned a lot." Pete -- not his real name -- is among a team of inmates from the jail on the capital's outskirts who prepared a five-star banquet for the public as part of this year's Wellington on a Plate food festival. More than 30 prisoners a year earn catering qualifications in the prison's kitchens, providing them with skills to help them land jobs in Wellington's thriving restaurant scene after their release. This year, authorities decided to display the prison's culinary prowess publicly for the first time. In a programme that gives a whole new meaning to "doing stir", they enlisted Martin Bosley, whose eponymous restaurant was named New Zealand's best in 2007, to train six prisoners over a nine-month period. The result was Prison Gate to Plate, two nights of fine dining in August that offered 140 paying customers a four-course banquet in the prison grounds. "It's been the most extraordinary thing I've done in 30 years, and the most confronting," said Bosley. The chef, whose restaurant is situated in the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, admitted he was initially sceptical about swapping his swish waterfront location for weekly sessions in the grim surrounds of a prison kitchen. "I wasn't interested. I had very set views on crime and punishment, paying your debt to society, and wanted nothing to do with them," he said. "Then the idea started to intrigue me and I realised that these guys are going to get out eventually, what are they going to be doing on the outside?" Asking an inmate what he did to end up behind bars is a serious breach of prison etiquette but Bosley said he initially assumed the six convicts selected for the programme would not have committed serious offences because Rimutaka is a medium security jail. He soon realised he was incorrect, as most of his students had originally served time in high-security institutions before being moved to Rimutaka as a reward for good behaviour. "It's made me question some of the things I believed in, getting to know these guys, working with them and coming to like them," said Bosley, who was not paid for his involvement. "But always at the back of your mind there is the thought that there are victims out there. "There's been days when I've come out and just sat in the car park here for half an hour feeling desperately sad and despondent, thinking what a terrible place. Other times I've come out and thought 'that's amazing, we're making a difference'." Bosley, who now has a former Rimutaka prisoner working part-time at his restaurant, said the skills of each inmate gradually emerged during his weekly sessions. "Brownie" turned out to be a skilled butcher, wielding a razor-sharp knife with a surgeon's care to trim fat from prime cuts of beef. "Marco", who says he could not make a sandwich before he was jailed in 2004, dreams of becoming a baker on the outside after perfecting his jailhouse pastries: "I want to make wedding cakes," he told AFP. "Wolf" took charge of the vegetarian option, creating a meat-free Wellington roulade accompanied by French puy lentils and goat's cheese mousse. "Every time I failed, I learned something," he said. "Once I realised you can't chuck all the stuff in a pot and just go for it, you actually have to study it, I found it fascinating." Bullet-headed and with a frame almost as wide as it is tall, Wolf admits that contact with non-inmates has been the most challenging aspect of the programme, saying that like many prisoners he is intensely shy and being inside "stuffs up your social skills". He describes working on the banquet as nothing short of life changing, saying cooking has given him a goal to work toward. "I've been here a long time and most officers would agree that when I came I was a troubled inmate," he said. "Since I've been involved in this it's changed my whole focus (going) forward. I've now got a passion for this. It's something I want to do and nothing else matters now. "You sort of muddle yourself through the years and you've got no focus because every day is the same. It's really good when you finally zoom in on something and go 'bang, that's what I want to do when I get out'." Wolf and the other prisoners were nervous about the reception their food would receive when AFP spoke to them just before the banquet on August 9 and 10. They need not have worried. It received rave reviews, including one from the Dominion Post restaurant critic David Burton, who cited the opinion of one happy diner in his write-up: "If the food is always like this, I'd consider doing time." - AFP, August 26, 2013.

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Bayern’s Thiago needs surgery, out for seven weeks Posted: 25 Aug 2013 08:13 AM PDT August 25, 2013 Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara will be out for around seven weeks after injuring an ankle in yesterday's 2-0 Bundesliga win at Nuremberg that requires surgery, the European and German champions said today. The 22-year-old Spain international will miss Bundesliga matches against Freiburg, Hanover 96, Schalke 04 and VfL Wolfsburg as well as the start of the Champions League group stage and the German Cup game against Hannover 96, Bayern said on their website (www.fcbayern.telekom.de). Thiago, who will have the operation tomorrow, damaged ligaments in his right ankle in the second half of the Nuremberg match and had to be replaced by Thomas Mueller. – Reuters, August 25, 2013.

Ancelotti keeps mum on Bale move to Real Madrid Posted: 25 Aug 2013 07:57 AM PDT August 25, 2013 Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has refused to discuss Gareth Bale (pic) amid reports the Tottenham Hotspur winger is poised to join the nine-times European champions for a world record fee. Bale's move to the Spanish capital has been widely flagged in Spanish and British media and is said to be worth €99 million (US$133 million), eclipsing the price of around €95 million Real paid Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. Photographs of Bale in the Spanish holiday resort of Marbella appeared in local media today, prompting speculation he will be presented at Real's Bernabeu stadium on Tuesday or Wednesday. At a news conference today previewing tomorrow's La Liga game at Granada, Ancelotti was asked where Bale might fit into his team. The Italian laughed and said he had not thought about it as he had "other problems at the moment". "I understand it's a very interesting issue for everyone but I can't say anything because he is not a Real Madrid player right now," he added. "I am sorry but I can't reply." Quizzed later by British journalists, he said there were two reasons why he did not want to discuss the issue publicly. "First of all because Gareth Bale is not a Real Madrid player at this moment," Ancelotti said. "The second because I need to have respect for my players and we are focused on our game tomorrow." He said he did not know if Bale would be the final addition to Real's squad before the transfer window shuts. "I need to have respect for the Spanish journalists who every day ask me this and I didn't answer," Ancelotti said. "So for you it's the same I don't want to answer." Ancelotti also responded to criticism from Barcelona's new coach Gerardo Martino about Bale's price tag. Martino told a news conference yesterday spending that amount of money on a soccer player would be "out of place in the current economic climate" and "a lack of respect to the world in general". "They were words I didn't understand," Ancelotti said. "He (Martino) has not been here for long and he still doesn't understand how European football works. "He also doesn't understand his own club because Barcelona has spent money on some very important players. "I don't want to talk about this but I think his words were a little strange." Champions Barca will be without the injured Lionel Messi when they play their second league match of the campaign at Malaga later today. – Reuters, August 25, 2013.

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Booming lobster population pinches profits for Maine’s fishery Posted: 24 Aug 2013 11:13 PM PDT August 25, 2013 Latest Update: August 25, 2013 10:08 pm Freshly caught lobsters are loaded into bins on the lobster boat By all rights, lobsterman Steve Train should be the envy of commercial fishermen around the world. Lobster populations in Maine are booming like never before. Tourists readily dole out US$15 (RM49.50) or more for lobster rolls, those delectable morsels of seafood on a bun. And environmentalists have praised the harvest as a rare example of sustainability in a sea of overfishing. Enter market forces. Last year's record haul of 126 million pounds (57 million kg), double that of just a decade ago, led some to wonder whether lobster might go the way of cheap, everyday foods like the chicken nugget or TV dinner. Prices paid to lobstermen at the dock plummeted and have not recovered. They are barely enough, says Train, to cover fuel and bait. "It's hard to make a business plan the way things are going," said the 46-year-old lobsterman, who has fished the island-studded waters of Casco Bay since he was a teenager. Even as many of the world's fisheries have floundered, the Maine lobster harvest, recently certified as sustainable by the nonprofit Marine Stewardship Council, has reached epic proportions, but success is relative. "I'm sure the corn farmer, or the wheat farmer, or chicken farmers all felt the same way at some point," said Pete Daley, a manager at Garbo Lobster Co in Hancock, Maine, one of the country's largest distributors. "People say, 'I'm not getting the price I used to get, or the price I deserve.' But what we're seeing here is an industry that's evolving." No one knows exactly why lobster populations have increased so quickly. The answer, says marine biologist Robert Steneck, is likely a combination of warming water temperatures, the overfishing of inshore predators like cod and a long history of forward-thinking conservation measures. "This is a species that has been targeted (by fishermen) for 150 years or more and is doing better today than ever before," said Steneck, a professor at the University of Maine. "What other fishery on the planet can make that claim?" In a recent sign of shifting ecosystems - and economics - two of the world's largest lobster distributors, Garbo and the Massachusetts-based East Coast Seafood, long known as fierce competitors, joined in a venture to convert the Stinson Seafood Plant in Prospect Harbor, Maine, the country's last sardine cannery, to a state-of-the-art lobster processing facility. This year the plant, called Maine Fair Trade Lobster Co, will employ 130 people and process 5 million pounds (2.3 million kg). The number of lobster processing plants in the state has more than tripled, from 5 in 2010 to 16 last year. "People are looking at this as a problem," said Michael Tourkistas, president of East Coast Seafoods, the country's largest lobster exporter. "But if you're going to have an issue, excess supply is a good one to have." Ecology vs Economics The real problems, many observers contend, are those that have always plagued the industry: a mismatch of ecology and economics and a lack of cooperation among fishermen and dealers renowned for cut throat competition. In the spring and early summer, lobster come inshore to shed their rigid shells, making them easy prey for near-shore lobstermen in small boats - and easy to eat for tourists who arrive in Maine at about the same time. The short-term bounty sets up a vicious cycle as the market quickly saturates and the state's 5,300 lobstermen fish ever harder to make up for low prices, further depressing the price. "We all want to make the same paycheck. But if you had an industry that actually cooperated, you wouldn't be bringing in more product if you couldn't sell what you already had, right?" said John Jordan, a lobsterman and president of Calendar Islands Maine Lobster Co. Jordan's company and others are frantically seeking new ways to sneak lobster into unexpected corners of the food market, from gazpacho to puff pastries and quiche. But before the big names in the industry move lobster from the "catch of the day" to the permanent menu, say industry experts, the kinks in the supply chain must be worked out. "Being negative is a pretty traditional pursuit for a lobsterman," said Jordan, who admits to occasional griping himself. "But the public conversation about low prices does nothing but depress them further. It's time we all take a more proactive approach." For now, Daley, of Garbo, says matching supply to demand means processing more lobster in Maine - boiling, picking, freezing and storing lobster - to cover the down times. That, he says, will mean more consistent prices for lobstermen and consumers. Other efforts, including a US$2 million marketing collaborative established by the state legislature this year, should help get the word out, potentially paving the way for new markets, he said. But scientists caution Mother Nature is likely to have the last word. In southern New England, lobster populations spiked in the 1990s with warmer water temperatures, then were overwhelmed by disease and have struggled to recover, said researcher Steneck. As the water warms in the Gulf of Maine, even the most optimistic lobster aficionados admit to a bit of trepidation, an increasing concern as fisheries for species like cod and haddock have either declined or collapsed, leaving fishermen with few alternatives. "There isn't an investor in all the world who would suggest putting all your money in one stock," said Steneck. "But that's what we're doing here in Maine." - Reuters, August 25, 2013.

Booming lobster population pinches profits for Maine’s fishery Posted: 24 Aug 2013 11:13 PM PDT August 25, 2013 Latest Update: August 25, 2013 10:08 pm Freshly caught lobsters are loaded into bins on the lobster boat By all rights, lobsterman Steve Train should be the envy of commercial fishermen around the world. Lobster populations in Maine are booming like never before. Tourists readily dole out US$15 (RM49.50) or more for lobster rolls, those delectable morsels of seafood on a bun. And environmentalists have praised the harvest as a rare example of sustainability in a sea of overfishing. Enter market forces. Last year's record haul of 126 million pounds (57 million kg), double that of just a decade ago, led some to wonder whether lobster might go the way of cheap, everyday foods like the chicken nugget or TV dinner. Prices paid to lobstermen at the dock plummeted and have not recovered. They are barely enough, says Train, to cover fuel and bait. "It's hard to make a business plan the way things are going," said the 46-year-old lobsterman, who has fished the island-studded waters of Casco Bay since he was a teenager. Even as many of the world's fisheries have floundered, the Maine lobster harvest, recently certified as sustainable by the nonprofit Marine Stewardship Council, has reached epic proportions, but success is relative. "I'm sure the corn farmer, or the wheat farmer, or chicken farmers all felt the same way at some point," said Pete Daley, a manager at Garbo Lobster Co in Hancock, Maine, one of the country's largest distributors. "People say, 'I'm not getting the price I used to get, or the price I deserve.' But what we're seeing here is an industry that's evolving." No one knows exactly why lobster populations have increased so quickly. The answer, says marine biologist Robert Steneck, is likely a combination of warming water temperatures, the overfishing of inshore predators like cod and a long history of forward-thinking conservation measures. "This is a species that has been targeted (by fishermen) for 150 years or more and is doing better today than ever before," said Steneck, a professor at the University of Maine. "What other fishery on the planet can make that claim?" In a recent sign of shifting ecosystems - and economics - two of the world's largest lobster distributors, Garbo and the Massachusetts-based East Coast Seafood, long known as fierce competitors, joined in a venture to convert the Stinson Seafood Plant in Prospect Harbor, Maine, the country's last sardine cannery, to a state-of-the-art lobster processing facility. This year the plant, called Maine Fair Trade Lobster Co, will employ 130 people and process 5 million pounds (2.3 million kg). The number of lobster processing plants in the state has more than tripled, from 5 in 2010 to 16 last year. "People are looking at this as a problem," said Michael Tourkistas, president of East Coast Seafoods, the country's largest lobster exporter. "But if you're going to have an issue, excess supply is a good one to have." Ecology vs Economics The real problems, many observers contend, are those that have always plagued the industry: a mismatch of ecology and economics and a lack of cooperation among fishermen and dealers renowned for cut throat competition. In the spring and early summer, lobster come inshore to shed their rigid shells, making them easy prey for near-shore lobstermen in small boats - and easy to eat for tourists who arrive in Maine at about the same time. The short-term bounty sets up a vicious cycle as the market quickly saturates and the state's 5,300 lobstermen fish ever harder to make up for low prices, further depressing the price. "We all want to make the same paycheck. But if you had an industry that actually cooperated, you wouldn't be bringing in more product if you couldn't sell what you already had, right?" said John Jordan, a lobsterman and president of Calendar Islands Maine Lobster Co. Jordan's company and others are frantically seeking new ways to sneak lobster into unexpected corners of the food market, from gazpacho to puff pastries and quiche. But before the big names in the industry move lobster from the "catch of the day" to the permanent menu, say industry experts, the kinks in the supply chain must be worked out. "Being negative is a pretty traditional pursuit for a lobsterman," said Jordan, who admits to occasional griping himself. "But the public conversation about low prices does nothing but depress them further. It's time we all take a more proactive approach." For now, Daley, of Garbo, says matching supply to demand means processing more lobster in Maine - boiling, picking, freezing and storing lobster - to cover the down times. That, he says, will mean more consistent prices for lobstermen and consumers. Other efforts, including a US$2 million marketing collaborative established by the state legislature this year, should help get the word out, potentially paving the way for new markets, he said. But scientists caution Mother Nature is likely to have the last word. In southern New England, lobster populations spiked in the 1990s with warmer water temperatures, then were overwhelmed by disease and have struggled to recover, said researcher Steneck. As the water warms in the Gulf of Maine, even the most optimistic lobster aficionados admit to a bit of trepidation, an increasing concern as fisheries for species like cod and haddock have either declined or collapsed, leaving fishermen with few alternatives. "There isn't an investor in all the world who would suggest putting all your money in one stock," said Steneck. "But that's what we're doing here in Maine." - Reuters, August 25, 2013.

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Parti komponen BN yang mewakili kaum India perlu bergabung di bawah parti tunggal Posted: 25 Aug 2013 02:07 AM PDT August 25, 2013 Semua parti komponen Barisan Nasional (BN) yang mewakili kaum India perlu bergabung sebagai sebuah parti tunggal untuk pembangunan dan kepentingan kaum itu. Setiausaha Agung BN Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor berkata tidak ada gunanya kesemua parti itu bersaing sesama sendiri, sebaliknya mereka perlu menjalin kerjasama demi kepentingan dan pembangunan masyarakat India di negara ini. Mereka sepatutnya duduk semeja dan merangka strategi bagaimana dapat membela nasib dan mencapai aspirasi kaum India dengan lebih berkesan, katanya semasa merasmikan persidangan perwakilan Parti Makkal Sakti Malaysia kali kelima di Kuala Lumpur hari ini. "Saya merayu kepada parti seperti Makkal Sakti, Parti Bersatu India Malaysia (MIUP), MIC, Barisan Kemajuan India Malaysia (IPF) dan juga Parti Progresif Penduduk (PPP) yang mempunyai ramai anggota daripada kaum itu agar bergabung supaya menjadi parti yang lebih kuat. "Kenapa perlu berpecah?… Kenapa perlu wujud banyak parti yang memperjuangkan perkara yang sama?... Barangkali perlu dibuat analisa atau duduk semeja untuk memikirkan bagaimana mengatasi masalah ini," katanya. Tengku Adnan yang juga Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan berkata penggabungan itu penting untuk meraih kembali pengundi masyarakat India kerana BN hanya memperoleh 48 peratus sokongan kaum itu pada pilihan raya umum ke-13. "Kita mahu meningkatkan purata sokongan masyarakat itu kepada 60 hingga 70 peratus... justeru kalau berterusan berpecah, ia akan menyukarkan kita untuk mencapai sasaran," katanya. Beliau berkata parti India paling besar iaitu MIC, perlu lebih terbuka mendengar pendapat dan membuat analisa mengapa terlalu ramai masyarakat India membentuk parti politik baharu bagi mewakili kaum itu. "Mesti ada kesilapan, MIC kena perbetulkan. Kenapa banyak sangat penolakan, adakah kerana kepimpinan ataupun polisi, dan juga bagaimana untuk mengumpulkan kesemua parti (kaum India) ini untuk bersama membantu masyarakat India," katanya. Dalam pada itu, Presiden Makkal Sakti Datuk R.S. Thanenthiran berkata beliau bersetuju dengan cadangan Tengku Adnan tetapi semua pemimpin parti perlu bertolak ansur dan bersedia melepaskan jawatan parti masing-masing. "Saya harap ia akan menjadi kenyataan... parti gabungan 'yang disusun semula' itu boleh menggunakan nama baharu di bawah satu payung yang memperjuangkan kebajikan kaum India," katanya. Beliau berkata jika tidak bergabung sekalipun, kesemua parti perlu duduk semeja untuk membincangkan apa yang boleh dibuat secara bersama demi kepentingan masyarakat itu. Meskipun Makkal Sakti baru berusia lima tahun, ia telah mempunyai 103,000 keanggotaan seluruh negara kecuali di Sarawak, katanya. – Bernama, August 25, 2013.

Azmin enggan ulas spekulasi tanding jawatan Presiden PKR Posted: 25 Aug 2013 12:33 AM PDT August 25, 2013 Latest Update: August 25, 2013 06:04 pm Timbalan Presiden PKR Mohamed Azmin Ali. – Gambar The Malaysian Insider oleh Nazir Sufari, August 25, 2013.Timbalan Presiden PKR Mohamed Azmin Ali hari ini menepis spekulasi mengatakan beliau akan bertanding jawatan Presiden menentang Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah dalam pemilihan parti itu yang dijadualkan awal tahun depan. Bercakap kepada The Malaysian Insider, ahli Parlimen Gombak itu menegaskan fokus utamanya kini adalah bekerja untuk memastikan anak muda akan tertarik kepada PKR sekaligus mengukuhkan kedudukan mereka dalam tempoh lima tahun akan datang. "Itu (soal bertanding jawatan Presiden) kita bincang kemudian ... saya nak fokus kerja supaya PR boleh gunakan lima tahun akan datang untuk menarik anak muda menyokong PR," katanya kepada The Malaysian Insider ketika ditemui dalam majlis rumah terbukanya di Ampang, merujuk kepada Pakatan Rakyat. "Kita mahu membina kekuatan parti dan penjenamaan semula parti supaya ia lebih menarik," katanya lagi. Azmin juga turut menepis dakwaan wujudnya agenda memboikot Menteri Besar Selangor Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim seperti dilaporkan media sebelum ini, sebaliknya mengakui hubungan beliau selaku Pengerusi PKR Selangor amat rapat dengan Abdul Khalid yang juga merupakan Pengerusi PR Selangor. "Kita ada muafakat cukup baik ... wacana agak berkala bagaimana parti boleh b ersama kerajaan negeri melaksanakan manifesto. Hubungan kerja cukup baik, jangan layan fitnah dan tohmahan," katanya lagi. Beliau juga berkata, hasil perbincangan ketika temu rapat antara pemimpin PR di Pulau Pinang yang berlangsung pada Ahad dan Isnin lalu juga perlu dilaksanakan. "Kita nak selaraskan dan laksanakan apa yang kita bincangkan di temu rapat," katanya ringkas, sebelum kembali melayan tetamu di jamuan rumah terbukanya. Laporan media sebelum ini berkata Abdul Khalid umpama dipinggirkan PKR negeri dalam aktiviti mereka dan hanya dilihat menghadiri program anjuran agensi-agensi kerajaan negeri serta Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT) tanpa penyertaan pemimpin serta Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adu) mahu pun pimpinan cabang PKR. Malah, Khalid juga turut dikatakan dilihat hanya hadir dalam program-program anjuran Exco atau DUN yang diwakili oleh PAS atau DAP. Perkara itu dikatakan disedari apabila Majlis Hari Terbuka hari raya pertama yang diadakan di Dataran SUK di Shah Alam hanya dihadiri oleh kebanyakan pimpinan PAS dan DAP tanpa kehadiran pemimpin dan Adun mahupun kepimpinan cabang PKR Selangor. Ketika program hari terbuka Parlimen Gombak yang dianjurkan oleh Azmin baru-baru ini, Khalid juga tidak kelihatan walaupun ramai Adun dan pimpinan PKR hadir. Memetik sumber dalaman kumpulan pro-Azmin, media melaporkan bahawa pimpinan pusat 'terlampau' campur tangan dalam pentadbiran politik negeri. - 25 Ogos, 2013.

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Biarkan Ordinan Darurat berehat di kuburnya Posted: 24 Aug 2013 07:27 PM PDT August 25, 2013 Penulis adalah anggota Parlimen Sepang. Beliau adalah pengamal undang-undang yang juga AJK PAS Pusat. Baik dalam Parlimen atau di luar Parlimen ahli ahli Parlimen BN kuat meneriak agar Ordinan Darurat (EO) yang telah dimansuhkan dan kini berehat di dalam kubur untuk dihidupkan semula. Alasan mereka hanya dengan EO gejala jenayah berat dapat diselesaikan. Mantan Ketua Menteri Melaka, Ali Rustam pergi lebih jauh lagi - beliau menyalahkan pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat (PR) di atas segala jenayah pembunuhan ala mafia yang berlaku sekarang. Mahathir pula menyatakan Kerajaan BN menggadaikan kebebasan dengan pemansuhan EO. Mantan Ketua Polis Negara (KPN), Rahim Noor dan KPN pula mahukan Kerajaan menghidupkan semula EO. Agak lucu juga Rahim Noor bercakap tentang jenayah dalam keadaan beliau sendiri telah gagal memastikan keselamatan orang yang ditahan di lokap polis-tempat yang sepatutnya paling selamat-benar benar selamat. Adakah beliau telah lupa bagaimana beliau sebagai KPN telah mencederakan Anwar Ibrahim di dalam lokap polis. Jika polis melakukan jenayah sudah dikira jijik bagaimana pula jika Ketua Polis  yang melakukan jenayah dan jenayah pula dilakukan di dalam lokap polis? Adakah benar EO ubat yang mujarab bagi menyelesaikan jenayah berat seperti kongsi gelap? Jika benar sudah pasti sudah lama gejala kongsi gelap telah dapat diselesaikan kerana EO hanya dimansuhkan setelah usia EO  mencapai usia emas. Seperti yang kita tahu EO membenarkan penahanan tanpa bicara seperti ISA, maka sepanjang tempoh EO masih hidup dan bernyawa logiknya sudah tentu sudah ramai ketua ketua kongsi gelap yang berjaya ditahan sekaligus segala kegiatan dan modus operandi mereka sudah boleh dikenal pasti. Jadi mengapakah ketua polis masih mengeluh kita  masih perlukan EO? Hakikatnya EO bukan sahaja digunakan ke atas penjenayah berat malahan penjenayah biasa yang terlibat dengan kesalahan yang dikira kecil juga menjadi mangsa EO. Peguam yang biasa mengendalikan jenayah tahu sangat perkara ini. Tapi itu bukan isunya mengapa PR dan mana-mana individu yang prihatin meminta EO dimansuhkan. Ya, jenayah berat isu kita bersama. Namun sejahat mana pun seorang penjenayah mereka masih seorang manusia. Mereka ada hak iaitu hak sebagai seorang manusia. Hak ini adalah hak yang diberikan oleh Tuhan kepada manusia itu. Hak itu wujud sebelum wujudnya mana-mana undang-undang di negara di dunia ini. Hak itu hak yang sentiasa ada sekalipun tiada apa-apa undang-undang dalam mana-mana negara. Di dalam bahasa ingggeris ianya dikenali sebagai "inalienable rights". Atas dasar itu apabila Presiden Amerika Thomas Jefferson mengumumkan Perisytiharan Kemerdekaan (Declaration of Independence) di dalam perenggan kedua Perisytiharan Kemerdekaaan tersebut wujudnya kata-kata ini "kami menerima perkara berikut sebagai satu kebenaran yang nyata iaitu semua manusia dilahirkan sama dan mereka dikurniakan oleh Pencipta mereka beberapa hak yang tidak boleh dipisahkan dari mereka ..". Ada sarjana undang-undang yang menyatakan kata-kata tersebut menunjukkan wujudnya pengaruh Islam dalam Perisytiharan Kemerdekaan tersebut. Mereka yang mempelajari sejarah Islam sudah tentu arif dengan kata-kata Khalifah Islam Syaidina Umar r.a kepada Gabenor Mesir, Amru Al-As "sejak bilakah kamu diberi izin memperhamba sesama manusia sedangkan ibu-ibu mereka melahirkan mereka dalam keadaan bebas". Kata kata syaidina Umar itu ditujukan kepada Gebenornya sendiri apabila anak Gabenor memukul rakyat biasa sambil membanggakan dirinya dengan kata-kata "ana ibnu al-akramin" (aku anak orang yang mulia). Antara hak orang yang ditahan yang tidak boleh dipisahkan dari mereka sejahat mana mereka sekalipun adalah hak untuk dianggap tidak bersalah melainkan dibuktikan bersalah dan termasuk hak itu adalah hak untuk dibicarakan dan sekaligus hak untuk membela diri. Kerana hak itu bersifat azali maka sebab itu Perlembagaan Persekutuan juga mengiktiraf hak tersebut dalam Artikel 5 Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Malangnya pemimpin Umno/BN, Rahim Noor dan KPN yang ada ini tidak ambil peduli hak-hak ini. Bagi mereka menahan tanpa bicara sekalipun bertentangan dengan prinsip keadilan dan prinsip asas undang undang jenayah iaitu seseorang dianggap tidak bersalah adalah suatu perkara yang remeh dan tidak perlu diambil berat. Persoalannya bagaimanakah kita nak meremehkan sesuatu hak yang Pencipta manusia itu sendiri berikan? Satu kesilapan dalam berfikir pemimpin Umno, Rahim Noor dan KPN adalah mereka membuat anggapan apabila ada rakyat yang bercakap tentang hak orang yang ditahan mereka dikira tidak ambil berat kepada mangsa jenayah. Anggapan ini amat amat salah. Mana mungkin PR memandang remeh kepada mangsa penjenayah kerana mana-mana mangsa penjenayah itu  sudah tentu dalam apa keadaan sekalipun mempunyai hubungan dengan mana-mana pemimpin atau ahli-ahli PR sama ada saudara mereka atau jiran mereka atau paling kurang rakyat senegara. PR mahu gejala jenayah berat dibanteras. Mereka perlu ditangkap tetapi mestilah dibicarakan. Jika perbicaraan ke atas mereka sukar disabitkan kerana  masalah untuk dikemukakan keterangan dan bukti apa yang perlu dilakukan bukan menahan mereka tanpa bicara sebaliknya undang undang keterangan bagi pengemukaaan bukti bagi kes berat boleh dikaji semula tanpa kompromi perbicaraan yang adil. Sebagai satu contoh amat sukar untuk membuktikan pengedaran dadah dalam perbicaraan kes dadah. Sebab itulah undang undang dadah dipinda dengan memperkenalkan pembuktiaan melalui anggapan atau pembuktian melalui agen provokatur (polis yang menyamar). Ini dilakukan tanpa melenyapkan hak orang yang ditahan untuk dibicarakan. Apa yang kita  takut dan mempunyai sebab untuk takut apabila didedahkan oleh bekas-bekas pegawai polis yang berpangkat tinggi gejala jenayah kongsi gelap dan pembunuhan ala mafia ini terus berlaku kerana penglibatan pegawai-pegawai polis  dan ahli-ahli politik. Apa yang berlaku kepada mendiang Altantuya membuktikan dakwaan itu bukan suatu yang kosong. Bagaimanakah bom C4 yang digunakan untuk meletup banggunan boleh terlepas begitu sahaja. Bagaimanakah anggota-anggota keselamatan yang bertugas menjaga keselamatan Menteri boleh terlibat dalam pembunuhan ngeri sebegitu. Ini yang patut kita bincangkan bukan beri nyawa sekali lagi kepada EO! - 25 Ogos, 2013. * Penulis adalah anggota Parlimen Sepang. Beliau adalah pengamal undang-undang yang juga AJK PAS Pusat. * Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider.

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