Student activist suspended 3 semesters
(Bernama) – Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) today suspended student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim for three semesters after finding him guilty of lowering a flag depicting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last month.
The suspension on Adam, 22, who landed in controversy after lowering a flag depicting Najib at the Umno headquarters in Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur on Dec 17, would start from the 2011/2012 Semester II Session to the end of the 2012/2013 Semester II Session.
The decision to suspend Adam was made after a disciplinary hearing held today at the Pusat Pendidikan Global Universiti and presided by five disciplinary committee members and chaired by UPSI Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Zakaria Kasar.
UPSI Deputy Vice Chancellor (Student Affairs) Datuk Paduka Dr Junaidi Abu Bakar in a statement released later said Adam would be given 14 days to appeal against the decision.
“The Appeal Board will then make a decision within 30 days,” he said.
Adam was among 500 students who protested the government’s decision to amend the restrictive Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) and rallied for academic freedom under the movement called Gerakan Kebebasan Akademik (Bebas).
The student movement also gave Najib an ultimatum to amend the UUCA or face the consequences in the upcoming polls.
UPSI’s disciplinary body later brought two charges against Adam, alleging among other things, that Adam had damaged the ‘good name’ of UPSI and also ‘endangered morals and public order.’
Adam, in his fifth semester when met said he would not appeal against the suspension but would instead file a case in the civil court soon.
“This is a University ‘Court’ decision that I will not recognise….and I will file a case in the civil court,” he told reporters in the presence of Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia Chairman Ahmad Shukri Razab.
Adam was earlier seen entering the university premises at 3pm while a group of about 150 students gathered outside as a mark of support for him.
