Amer Hamzah and I took our Certificate of Legal Practice (‘CLP’) course at the University of Malaya (UM) when they used to run it. The time we took it was the second last time they held the course there, 1997-1998. The course was conducted by a mixture of UM lecturers and part-time practicing lawyers. They varied in quality from the amazingly good to the indifferent perfunctory performance; in quantity, the latter outnumbered the former. Amer …
Donatus Chidera Okonkwo was charged for drug trafficking, 39B. The sentence is death. I remember him because of his name, specifically, his last name – Okonkwo. That is the name of the protagonist of one of my favourite novel Things Fall Apart by the Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe. It was a pioneering novel. It told the African narrative from the native’s point of view instead of the Western colonialist’s. The book challenged English literature’s colonialist …
If Hasan Ali and me were a three-act play; we were now at the point of confrontation. I waited for Rahman to calm down. “He has a sword?” “Yes. He showed it to us a few days ago when he demanded money from us.” If true, the irony of this was not lost on me. A sword is a scheduled weapon under the The Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958 (“the Act”). …
Just before I took Hasan Ali on, between the period of 2012 to 2016, I had the good fortune to meet and establish friendships or working relationships with a few excellent people that would prove satisfying, enduring, and inspiring. I hoped Hasan Ali would continue to be a part of that run of good fortune. Over the months of April and May 2017, my lawyers and I tried to make Hasan Ali feel welcome. He …
Lude Hasan Ali was my friend’s legal aid client. Hasan Ali was convicted after pleading guilty to an offence under section 6(1) of The Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958 in the Sessions Court in 2016. I reproduce that provision because it is relevant to this story. I also think it is should be of general interest because of its potential implications. I also reference two other provisions for a fuller appreciation …