Crook justice

It's gotta be tough for those pollies. Here they have this guy who they just know is a dirty rotten scumbag (and they may be right). But the evidence they have to prove it is rejected by the appeals court (it's one of those little technical things, like it was an involuntary confession made without benefit of counsel). Unlike those AWB chappies who paid millions of dollars to bribe the Iraq government and corrupt the UN oil for food program, this idiot accepted a bribe from Al Queda to return home and lay low. Simply despicable.

"Australia court imposes first control order on released terror suspect":

"Thomas was the first Australian incarcerated under the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism Act 2002 [text]. A jury convicted [BBC report] Thomas in February of receiving $3,500 from a senior Al Qaeda member and of carrying a fake passport, but the conviction was overturned because authorities were found to have interviewed Thomas against his will and without access to a lawyer when he was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. Control orders have also been controversial in the UK, where an appeals judge earlier this month upheld a lower court ruling [JURIST report] that using them to restrict uncharged terror suspects violates the European Convention on Human Rights [PDF text]."

Attorney General Ruddock says you just cannot trust the crook judicial system to protect us from the likes of Thomas: "You wouldn't need control orders if you could rely on the criminal justice system to provide ongoing protection." (Quote from Reuters newswire story today by Michael Perry.)

Fortunately for Ruddock, and Australia, the Government doesn't have to rely on the judicial system. Stuff 'em! They've got their own powers to be sheriff, judge and jury. Who needs a whimpy old legal system in these days of rampant terrorism. You got a terrorist on the street what needs a good fear put in him, well just rely on the terrorists with badges and lock him up.

See, "Ruddock accused of vilifying Jack Thomas"

And while we're at it, let the media goons have a go at him too. The only jury a good pollie needs is a popular press. According to a Reuters newswire story today by Michael Perry, "the Australian newspaper's legal affairs editor wrote ... 'Anyone who aligns themselves with Australia's enemies and trains with al Qaeda should expect nothing less'."

It seems the proof of the "alignment" was contained in evidence the Australian courts rejected. But even if that evidence was not good enough for a court of law, it is good enough to throw a "control order" rope around Jack Thomas.

Australia issues control order for terror suspect

"Joseph Thomas was taking a beach vacation in eastern Victoria with his young family when police served the order, his brother said.

The order was made possible by a raft of new laws condemned by civil libertarians that came into effect in December designed to reduce the risk of homegrown terrorism following the London transport bombing in July last year.

Courts can order such restrictions, including that suspected extremists be monitored with tracking bracelets for up to a year, if a magistrate finds that they are necessary to protect the public from a terrorist attack or that the suspect has been trained by a terrorist group."

Of Joy and conversion

"Lina Joy, formerly known as Azlina Jailani, belonged to the ethnic Malays. She was brought up as a Muslim, but decided to convert to Christianity at the age of 26. In 1999, the National Registration Department allowed her to change the name in her identity card to Lina Joy but the ID entry for her religion remained as "Islam".

According to the Sharia law, Muslim women cannot marry men of other faiths, so Joy cannot legally marry outside the Muslim faith until the ID entry for her religion is deleted.

The legal wrangling started when Joy took the department to court over the anomaly.

Although Malaysia’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, a court ruling in favor of Joy could have serious consequences, analysts say.

"It's political dynamite. It will create instability," Abdul Razak said."

Malaysia awaiting ruling on Islam conversion

Azlina got little joy from the first appellate court case, losing 2 to 1. The opinions of the judges in that case make for fascinating reading. Lina Joy v Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan & 2 Ors 2005 [CA]

But she is making progress in higher courts. "The Federal Court, led by Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, unanimously granted leave to Lina Joy, whose birth name is Azlina Jailani, to appeal after ruling that the principle issue in the case was a matter of public importance and the court's decision on it would be to the public advantage." (Lina Joy Gets Green Light To Appeal)

Guambat has posted before on the topic of apostasy. It's obviously an extremely delicate subject in some parts.

Many Malaysian Muslims are hoping Azlina's case fails.

A visit to the family of Azlina Jailani (Lina Joy)

The Defenders of Islam coalition

"It's now clear that this is no longer an individual's case where he or she wants to apostate as they feel like it. This is now open warfare between the Syariah Courts of the Kingdom of Malaysia against an American Organisation that bankrolls those who want to apostate, especially from Malaysia, a 'crucial' point of Christian evangelical struggles here in South East Asia."

Replies to those in favour of Lina Joy