More and more, Malaysia has become the object of condemnation of international civil society.
The latest to denounce Malaysia’s crackdown on fundamental liberties is Amnesty International which condemned the Malaysian government for using "selective prosecution" to silence outspoken critics and opposition leaders.
Amnesty International said it had long believed that the continued existence of an array of restrictive laws in Malaysia, many unable to be challenged in court, poses a grave threat to fundamental rights of freedom.
It said: "The organisation fears that the safeguards designed to
prevent the authorities from using such laws to initiate selective prosecution
for political purposes have been fundamentally weakened."
Of the recent spate of arrests, Amnesty said government and opposition
figures had made public statements that could be interpreted as potentially
seditious but only opposition members had been charged.
"Charging political leaders and journalists with sedition threatens to strike at the heart of free speech in a democratic society," it said in a statement from London.
"When such prosecution appear to fall solely on opposition figures, public confidence in the rule of law risks being seriously undermined."
The counter-strategy against the Barisan Nasional’s latest crackdown
on the rule of law, press freedoms, the right to information, fundamental
liberties and democracy must be multi-pronged, involving:
DAP will launch a nation-wide "Back Karpal, Uphold Rule of Law" campaign to mobilise support among Malaysians to close the widening gap between law and justice in Malaysia.
The DAP will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss the details of such a campaign.
(15/1/2000)