Pic from Perak13fund Facebook page
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Engage have reached out for public help in support of jailed Perak coup protesters and their families.
“The goal is to raise a total of RM260,000 so that we can give RM2,000 per month for each of the affected families. This requires 520 fellow Malaysians to pledge RM50 monthly for 10 months. We hope to start disbursing the raised funds from April 2015 till January 2016,” said its chairperson Thomas Fann.
The ‘Friends of Perak 13’ fund was launched on March 19, a day after the 13 protesters from Perak were sentenced to a ten month jail sentence and a fine of RM 5,000 each. They were convicted for protesting Barisan Nasional’s appointment of Zambry Kadir as Perak MB in 2009, after a defection by three Pakatan Rakyat representatives triggered a constitutional crisis in the state government.
The 13 had demonstrated along the road leading to the palace in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, when Zambry was being sworn-in in for the position before the Sultan of Perak.
The amount donated to the fund currently stands at RM 79,965.92, which is about 30 percent of the target amount. The fund was set up to provide financial aid of RM 2000 every month for the families of the 13 jailed from now until January next year.
“While the response from the public so far is very encouraging, we are still short of our target.
“With the amount collected so far, we can only give RM615 each month to the 13 families for 10 months,” Fann said.
According to Fann, most of the thirteen convicted are the sole breadwinners of their families, some with handicapped children and toddlers to support.
Though many gave one-off donations of RM 500 or more, he said, some have pledged to give RM 50 per month.
A Board of Overseers consisting Ambiga Sreenevasan (Former Bersih Chairperson), Maria Chin Abdullah (Bersih Chairperson), Dr Toh Kin Woon (Bersih Northern Peninsula Vice-chairperson) and Professor Azmi Sharom (University Malaya law lecturer) would scrutinise the accounts to ensure that all the funds collected would be channeled to the family members.
The Perak 13, also known as OKZ13 (Orang Kena Zalim) are Bad Latif Mansor, Suhana Abdullah, Mohd Faiz Mohd Arshad, Zulhaizam Zulkifli, Isha Riduan Ishak, Adi Hilmee Mohd Nasir, Mohamad Nazeer Hameed, Khairul Azmi Hassan Basri, Mohd Hasri Ismail, Mohamed Ismail S M Abdul Kadir, Idris Mohd Thaib, Meor Safizal Meor Mohamed Amin and Yusuf Jaafar.
The fund is a prelude to the Freedom Fund that Engage are planning to launch in the near future.
“The aim of the Freedom Fund is to provide financial assistance to all whose freedom as guaranteed under Article 10 were denied and they are either fined, jailed, sacked or had privileges withdrawn,” Fan said.
Those interested can email [email protected] or visit the Facebook page of the same name.
-The Rocket
