27 October 2015•Update: 28 October 2015
By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia's government has accused an international rights group of "exaggeration" in its claims that it has been criminalizing its critics in an attempt to silence them, telling local media Tuesday that Malaysians had more freedom to speak out today than in the past.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak told Malaysiakini that claims in a Human Rights Watch report described the current situation in "Gaza," not Malaysia.
"The Malaysian police have not been shooting people on the streets every day and there are no waves of arrest like, maybe, in the past," Salleh was quoted as saying by the news portal.
The report alleges that the space for public debate and free speech in Malaysia is rapidly narrowing, as the government resorts to using criminal law to deter criticism and suppress public discontent.
"Malaysia has gone on a binge of prosecutions of critics," the group's Asia Director Brad Adams said at the launch of Creating a Culture of Fear: The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Malaysia.
"The government is making a mockery of its claims to democracy and fundamental rights by treating criticism as a crime."
It claims to document how a range of broad and vaguely-worded laws has been used to criminalize peaceful expression, including debates on matters of public interest.
It also spotlights what it says are abuses of the legal process, including late night arrests, "unjustifiable" remands, and a pattern of "selective" prosecution.
The report claims that Prime Minister Najib Razak's government has also broken promises to revise the laws.
Asia Director Brad Adams said Razak had reversed his commitment to reform after his party lost the popular vote at the 2013 general elections.
"That repression has intensified in the past year in the face of critical media coverage and rising public discontent over issues ranging from the imposition of a new goods and services tax, to the government’s response to a spiralling corruption scandal involving the government-owned 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), whose board of advisors is chaired by Prime Minister Najib Razak," he said.
Adams added that the report had found that the government had arrested and often prosecuted those with critical views, as well as suspending two critical newspapers for three months, blocking websites and declaring peaceful protests “unlawful”.
"Malaysia should stop shutting down media and shutting up critics," he said.
"These actions are increasingly noticed by the international community, and send the signal that the rule of law is under threat."
HRW called on the Malaysian government to drop all pending charges in such cases, along with abusive investigations and prosecutions for critical speech and participation in peaceful assemblies.
"Malaysia should halt the abuse of the legal process to harass and detain critics, and amend or repeal the laws that impose criminal penalties for speech or assembly to bring those laws into line with international standards," Adams said.
1MDB has been in the limelight for the past two years for amassing 42 billion Ringgit ($9.8 billion) of debt, while Razak stands accused of laundering $600 million from the fund to his personal bank accounts.
Razak's government maintain that the allegations are false claims aimed at tarnishing the reputations of the prime minister and his administration.
*Anadolu Agency correspondent Satuk Bugra Kutlugun contributed to this report from Ankara.
