Batang Kali families get nod to challenge British govt

PETALING JAYA (Sept 8, 2011): For the first time in Malaysian history, the British secretaries for Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office will have to defend their actions in the alleged Batang Kali massacre of Dec 12, 1948, in which 24 unarmed tappers were killed.

According to Action Committee Condemning the Batang Kali Massacre adviser Tan Hai Kee, this will be the first time in 63 years that the British government will have to give a public account of the alleged atrocities committed during the State of Emergency in what was then known as Malaya.

“This is the first time ordinary Malaysians have successfully been granted a judicial review application by the British High Court to challenge the decision of the Secretaries of State,” he said in a press statement today.

“The four claimants are Chong Nyok Keyu, Loh Ah Choi, Lim Kok and Wooi Kum Thai who are relatives of the victims.

“In addition, despite the fact that they aim to sue the Secretaries of State, the claimants were granted full representation for British legal aid funding in July,” he said.

Tan urged the British and Malaysian government to disclose all investigation reports and classified materials in relation to the alleged massacre.

He called on Malaysian MPs to act under the provisions of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association and urge the British government to release all classified colonial records relating to the alleged claim of inhuman conduct during the Emergency period.

Tan also called upon the Malaysian government to set up a legal aid fund enabling the victims to seek redress against the former colonial government.

The committee’s coordinator Quek Ngee Meng said the judicial review will proceed to a full hearing before a British divisional court to be most likely heard early next year and will examine whether the secretaries acted lawfully when they refused last November to hold a public inquiry on the killings and possible cover-up.

The Batang Kali massacre took place in Malaya on Dec 12, 1948 during British military operations against native and Chinese communists during the post-World War II Malayan Emergency.

The 7th Platoon, G Company, 2nd Scots Guard surrounded a rubber estate at Sungai Rimoh, Batang Kali, Selangor in Malaya and shot 24 villagers before setting fire to the village.