KUALA LUMPUR – Some 75 MPs have called for a reversal in the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ (AGC) instruction to a senior federal counsel to defend a teacher and former principal in the countersuit filed by student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam and her father.
Describing the AGC’s action as “appalling”, they said that the government, especially the AGC and the Education Ministry, should be impartial in the matter.
“The act of appointing a federal counsel in the civil action to defend private actions by the teacher who had initiated the suit will further tarnish the already negative perception of the Education Ministry and the government,” they said.
“Ain’s case will only create more unwarranted fears and trepidations in parents and students in all our schools.
“It will impair confidence in the education system. Taxpayers’ money should be spent for proper purposes,” said a statement by the parliamentary lawmakers, which was sent to the press today by Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah.
The MPs stressed that they do recognise everyone has a right to legal recourse, including the teacher.
However, the AGC, as the guardian of public interest, should stop taking sides in this very sensitive case, they said.
As the drafter of the sexual harassment bill, the AGC should be more sensitive to such matters, they added.
They also said that the government’s focus should be one of providing a conducive learning environment to the Malaysian schools.
On June 4, Free Malaysia Today reported that the father-daughter duo objected to government lawyers representing the two defendants.
In an affidavit, Ain Husniza and her father Saiful Nizam said government lawyers must have a certificate from the AGC before representing the teacher in a civil suit, and there was none in this case.
In April last year, Ain Husniza had spoken out about an incident, in which her teacher allegedly made rape jokes in class.
Subsequently, she and her father filed a police report regarding the incident. However, police announced that the matter was classified as no further action.
On August 6, she was summoned to the Sg Buloh district police headquarters for questioning over investigations under Section 504 of the Penal Code for intentionally insulting with the intent for such provocation to threaten public peace. – The Vibes, June 7, 2022
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