PRESS STATEMENT
IGP & MADANI Govt Must Explain the Unlawful Arrest of Amir Hadi & Dobby Chew and Harsh Treatment with Handcuffs and Orange Lockup T-Shirt
24 September 2026
We refer to the statement by Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Ismail on 23.9.2026 insinuating that MANDIRI and its directors were involved in unlawful activity and were being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
MANDIRI directors, activists Amir Hadi and Dobby Chew, have been detained under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA), following the earlier freezing of MANDIRI and Hayat’s bank accounts and the imposition of travel bans on both men.
The arrest and detentions of the MANDIRI leaders are unlawful, arbitrary and oppressive; and unbecoming a government led by a purported reformist Prime Minister.
Yesterday, Amir Hadi and Dobby Chew were dragged to Jinjang Remand Court, barefoot, handcuffed and clad in orange lockup t-shirt. Is this the treatment to be meted out to civil society activists? PM Anwar Ibrahim himself went through the same treatment when he was in opposition not too long ago; is this the treatment he would want to impose on activists, when he was once in the same position as them?
Section 4(1) of AMLA criminalises dealing in the proceeds of an unlawful activity. It does not exist in a vacuum. For a charge under this section to stand, the police must first establish a predicate offence — an actual unlawful activity from which the alleged proceeds are said to originate. Without a predicate offence, there is no “unlawful activity,” and without unlawful activity, there can be no “proceeds” of it. This is not a technicality; it is the foundation of the law itself.
We have yet to see the Government or the police identify what this predicate offence is. What we have instead is the vague insinuation that the funds in question are “wang yang disyaki” — suspected money. If mere suspicion, without an identified underlying offence, is now sufficient grounds to arrest and investigate civil society leaders under AMLA, then the law is being weaponised, not enforced. On that standard, a significant proportion of Malaysians who have ever received or transferred funds from abroad could be harassed and probed the same way.
We are further troubled by the position taken by the Inspector-General of Police, who has cautioned the public against speculation, while the investigation itself proceeds on what appears to be speculative grounds. The IGP cannot demand silence from the public while the force he leads raids premises and detains civil society leaders without a clearly stated predicate offence. This is a double standard that has no place in a genuine rule-of-law state.
It must also be said plainly: Amir Hadi and Dobby Chew are being pursued not for any criminal conduct, but for their consistent work in youth empowerment, human rights and civil society advocacy — work that has, frequently , been critical of this Government. Criticism of the Government is not an offence. It is protected under Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution. Treating critics as enemies of the state is the conduct of an authoritarian government, not a reformist one.
It bears reminding that members of this very Government were themselves, not even a decade ago, subject to the same pattern of investigations, freezes and restrictions they now impose on others. The promises of institutional reform made on the way to power cannot be discarded the moment that power is secured.
We demand that the Government and the IGP immediately cease the uncalled-for and unlawful probe upon MANDIRI and its directors, because it has no basis in law. We further call for the immediate and unconditional release of Amir Hadi and Dobby Chew. The Government must further give a public undertaking that civil society, the opposition and government critics will be allowed to speak out without the threat of police raids and investigation.
The rule of law cannot be selectively applied — enforced in full against critics of the Government, and set aside for those in power. Malaysians deserve better than a government that has forgotten what it once stood for.
Issued by,
Rania Aljunied
Director
Lawyers for Liberty