Siti Kasim: I will continue to fight for my client
Nurul Azwa Aris | June 24, 2018
Shortly after her release, the activist vows to continue standing up for what she believes to be right and just.
Siti Kasim told reporters that she doesn’t know where her client is but believed she is being protected by a human rights group.
KAJANG: Lawyer and human rights activist Siti Kasim, who spent the night in a police lock-up, has vowed to keep on fighting for her client whom she was accused of “kidnapping”.
“I will keep fighting for her. She trusts me now, at the moment she does not trust anyone. Poor girl,” she told reporters after walking out from the Kajang police station following the court’s dismissal of an application for her remand.
Siti thanked the court for dismissing the remand application, saying she was just doing her duty as a lawyer.
She said she told the police that she was doing her job and she had to stand up for what she believed in because she was alone.
“Yes, I can be very fierce when the circumstances call for it,” she said when asked about her reaction when the police barged into her house last night.
“Just like how I was acting at the hospital (where her client was), with so many men trying to push me out, men whom I believed were illegally holding my client.
“I am sure you want a lawyer to act fiercely for you. I am sure you would want the same.
“I would not do things halfway. I believe if I do something I must do it right, properly, correctly and justly. That’s what I believe,” she said.
Siti said there was no point to have a lawyer who would not stand up for the client.
However, despite being arrested, Siti said she bore no grudges against the police as they were only doing their job.
“It’s okay, no problem. It is just that I have to spend one night in lock-up and missed my dinner.
“To be honest, the police were just doing their job. But still, when you are doing your job, you need to take other things into consideration.
“That’s not up to me, maybe look at the standard operating procedure again, just like in my client’s case.
“Claiming she was suffering from mental health issues, the police just grab her, trying to put her in a jacket without any proper procedure.
“Then anyone can lodge a report against you and claim that you are mentally retarded.”
She said without a proper procedure, the system could be abused.
Siti also said she had no idea where her client was but she believed that her client could be under the protection of a human rights group.
Meanwhile, Kajang OCPD Ahmad Dzaffir Yussof said they had released Siti after the application to remand her for four days was dismissed by the court.
He said the investigation under Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing a public servant from discharging his duty was still ongoing and the paperwork was expected to be submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
He also explained that all actions taken following Siti’s arrest last night were according to the law and police had remained impartial.
Earlier today, the Magistrate’s Court dismissed the remand application against Siti over allegations that she had obstructed police officers from discharging their duties.
She was arrested at the Kajang police headquarters, hours after officers broke into her home last night following a report accusing her of forcibly detaining a woman.
It is understood that the complaint was lodged by her client’s mother who had claimed that her daughter’s faith was in question.
Siti had earlier said that her client, who she claimed was abused by the mother, had been “abducted” by the police and Islamic authorities in Selangor.
A video posted on Facebook showed Siti at the police station, demanding that her client be freed. A woman was also heard from another room, denying that she had been kidnapped by Siti.
