Press Statement Drop baseless charges against Heidy Quah for exposing horrible conditions at immigration detention centres 29 July 2021 LFL views with grave concern the criminal charge levied against Heidy Quah at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court yesterday. We are well acquainted with section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) and the decision…
Press Statement Attempts to tackle forced labour issue must include massive overhaul of policy & attitude of the Home Ministry 16 July 2021 We refer to the recent statement by the Human Resources Minister, M Saravanan, where he expressed that Malaysia is ready to enter into strategic cooperation with the US to address human…
Press Statement Exposing police wrongdoing or brutality is not a crime 3 July 2021 We refer to the raid conducted by the police against Freedom Film Network co-founder Anna Har and animator/artist, Amin Landak over the animated film, “Chilli Powder and Thinner”. The heavy-handed response of the police to a short film on police brutality…
Press Statement Vaccinating can be done without arresting migrants 5 June 2021 We refer to the Home Minister’s statement on 3rd June where he insisted that the government is rounding up migrants to vaccinate them for Covid-19. Upon reading his statement, even though the Home Ministerclaims that the mass operation is to get migrants documented…
Press Statement Government must take immediate action on the spate of custodial deaths 4 June 2021 We refer to the news reports regarding the death of a detainee, Umar Faruq Abdullah, at the Klang District Police Headquarters on 3 June 2021. This is the fourth custodial death in recent weeks, an alarming trend that…
Press Statement Permit from police for lawyers to attend court is unconstitutional & dangerous 2 June 2021 We refer to the Law Minister’s announcement yesterday that lawyers will need a police permit to attend court for criminal cases involving new prosecutions, remand orders, and various criminal applications. Imposing the requirement of a police permit for the exercise of legal representation…
Press Statement The government should focus on curbing infection, not go after migrants during lockdown 30 May 2021 We are deeply concerned that the Home Minister, Hamzah Zainudin, has stated that the Immigration Department will beconducting a mass operation against undocumented migrants during the two-week lockdown.i This underhanded strategy of utilising the Movement Control Order…
Press Release Fine imposed by S’pore apex court intended to harass & intimidate lawyer for M’sian death row prisoners M Ravi; M’sian lawyers rally to pay the fine 18 May 2021 We refer to the decision on May 14 by Singapore’s Court of Appeal to order prominent Singapore human rights lawyer M Ravi to pay…
Press Statement Police must not use SOSMA, even against their own 30 April 2021 We refer to the detention of the police and SPRM officers who are purportedly implicated with the ‘Geng Nicky’ crackdown by the Johor Police Force. The statement issued by the Johor Police Chief stated that those arrested were detained under…
Press Statement Malaysian government must stop its regressive immigration policies 16 April 2021 We refer to the statement by the Immigration Department that all foreigners with expire social visit passes are required to leave the country by 21 April 2021. This abrupt announcement fails to account the difficulty faced by foreigners to arrange…
Press Statement RM 10,000 compound for Covid cases remains excessive, disproportionate despite ‘guidelines’ 19 March 2021 We refer to the press conference by the de facto Law Minister, Datuk Seri Takiyuddin bin Haji Hassan, on 17 March 2021 where he attempted to clarify the “confusion” regarding the RM10,000 compound for breaches of the Standard…
Press Statement New Emergency Ordinance against “fake news” will create a climate of fear 12 March 2021 LFL views with grave concern the provisions of the newly gazetted Emergency (Essential Powers) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021. This is not the first time that we have seen an attempt to legislate an anti-fake news law on…
Press Statement Government Must Halt Deportation Exercise of Myanmar Migrants to Avoid Breach of International Obligation 17 February 2021 2020 was a long and difficult year for Malaysia. The battle against Covid-19 took centre stage, but also proved a catalyst for other issues to be thrust into the spotlight: socioeconomic inequality, poverty, domestic violence…
Press Statement The Government is Duty-Bound under the CRC to Give Stateless Children Access to Education 7 February 2021 We refer to reports that the authorities now insist that stateless children produce passports to enrol in government schools. LFL has also over the last few months been approached by parents facing similar demands…
Press Statement The LGBT/transgender Community Must Not be Further Persecuted & Criminalised 20 January 2021 We are appalled by the statement from the Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, who said that the government intends to deal out heavier punishments against the LGBT community by increasing the sentencing limits in the Syariah Courts…