Justice For Kamer! “Audi Alteram Partem” – It’s Unfair Too To Prejudge Him!
Kamer Nizamdeen
Lukman Harees
“Do not judge and you will never be mistaken” ~Jean Jacques Rousseau
Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done, if the legal system is to retain the trust of society. One of the key principles of natural justice in law is “Audi alteram partem”- i.e. nobody should be condemned unheard. The logical extension of this principle is that everybody should be provided with legal aid to defend himself or herself in the court of law so as to prove his/her innocence. The presumption of innocence on the other hand, is a right that is intended to apply across all countries and cultures in the world, as a basic human right. Derived from the nature of things and natural state of affairs, the presumption of innocence, in connection with human behaviour, permeates and directs the principle of legality of all criminal legislation, substantive or procedural. Closely linked with and based upon the “presumption of innocence” is the “burden of proof“. The burden of proof is on the State to prove its case, not on the accused to prove his innocence and certainly not for the accused to prove his guilt. The notion that a person accused of a crime must be found guilty ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ is what is known as the ‘burden of proof’.
It is rather unfortunate to note to what extent these sacrosanct legal maxims were being widely violated and ignored in public space, very often even in the so-called advanced West. Clear example was seen few days ago, when Kamer Nizamdeen, a young lad hailing from Sri Lanka, who till then, had a bright future ahead of him, saw all his future hopes dissipating without any trace, when he was taken in by the NSW Australia Police allegedly on terror charges for having in his possession, a so-called notebook with details of terror targets involving both prominent political personalities and locations down under. (Earlier I thought it was a Computer Notebook given his IT background; but it was said to be a paper notebook). Both his family and his friends, began reeling in rude shock, when the news about this arrest reached them, with misleading headlines being splashed across most dailies both local and international, feeling a sense of powerlessness against Media sensationalism at its’ worst. The unfair Press, with no concern to all these sensitivities, called Kamer various names and invented non-existent links, introducing incorrect and distorting headlines to add spice to the new-item, as they were hell-bent on selling their papers.
Social media warriors too, joined the bandwagon and started carelessly making innuendos in the public domain about Kamer’s ‘terror’ connections and began copying and pasting biased Western Media news items, unfairly prejudging Kamer Nizamdeen in the process, even before a fair and reasonable investigation is completed. It was also not surprising that few Sinhala online websites in Sri Lanka too, well known for its’ anti-Muslim hate started its’ usual hate mongering process and harped on ‘unsubstantiated ISIS connections’ to sling mud not only on Kamer but also on his uncle Minister Faizer Mustapha too. The hate posts in the social media began making both unfairly and incorrectly, sweeping statements suggesting that Minister has been using his official clout to bring pressure on the Aussie Govt. and sending lawyers from Sri Lanka, despite his clear interview to the Press recently that he will not be prejudging and will leave it to the Australian judicial system to take its’ course, although his family clearly believed that Kamer is innocent. Prejudice, they say, is a great time saver, where opinions are formed without having to get the facts. Some even suggested that Minister should be investigated too. Kamer has thus become guilty until proven innocent, a reversal of the above said classic American legal maxim, in the wider background of Islamophobia hate campaign working in full throttle both in the West and beyond where Islam is always the adjudged culprit.
