When an unrepresented accused person is brought to a High Court and charged for an offence punishable with death penalty, a High Court Judge will ask him/her whether he/she wants the court to appoint a lawyer for him/her. If the answer is in affirmative, then, the Malaysian government will have to pay the lawyer for him/her.
If the accused person is a Malaysian, I would say "okay" because they are poor and cannot afford to pay the Malaysian lawyers. Besides, they are Malaysian and/or tax payers.
But, have we ever thought about Malaysia being too kind to the accused person if he/she is not a Malaysian? What if the accused person is an Iranian or Nigerian or from other countries? Will it be okay if our government has to pay for them when their own country or embassy is not interested in helping them?
By helping those non Malaysian, we are actually encouraging them to come here and commit offences such as drugs trafficking in Malaysia. They know if they are being arrested in Malaysia, our government will provide them with a free lawyer plus free foods.
However, I would like to thank the Indonesian Embassy for taking steps in helping their citizens in Malaysia. Any Indonesian charged for any offences punishable with death penalty, and cannot afford to appoint a lawyer, will be represented by a Malaysian lawyer appointed by the Indonesian government. The lawyer's fee will also be paid by the Indonesian government.
So, if we see many Indonesian charged in our Malaysian court, we'll say okay since they are not using our money to pay their lawyers. But, if we see other than the Malaysian or Indonesian being charged in High Courts, we have to say this is not okay because we are losing a lot of money.
What can we do????? So far, nothing.....
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