PETALING JAYA: Fearing harm to her three sons, Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin beseeched the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) today to take swift action after receiving death threats purportedly from local Islamic State (IS) terrorists. The electoral reform group chief said she received a warning through a WhatsApp message from an unknown phone number last…
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here dismissed today Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s constitutional challenge against the controversial National Security Council (NSC) Act 2016 on a technical point, his lawyer confirmed. Latheefa Koya, one of the lawyers who represented the PKR de facto leader, said the judge agreed with the government lawyer’s preliminary objection that the…
Press Statement Restricting Siti Kasim’s access to Orang Asli arbitrary and bad faith 14 October 2016 Lawyers for Liberty is extremely concerned with the Kelantan State Forestry Department’s action in blocking lawyer Siti Kasim from entering into the Balah forest reserve on 12 and 13 October in order to meet her Temiar Orang Asli clients.…
KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya’s crackdown on forms of dissent has worsened with the use of even more laws to suppress public criticism, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW). The global rights group said reported cases of Malaysians being investigated and prosecuted using an array of laws over the public expression of dissent have markedly risen…
KUALA LUMPUR: In exercising their powers, police should be “the face of human rights, and not a face to intimidate”, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) said. Its chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail (pic) said selected and intermittent training programmes on human rights are “just a scratch on the surface” to ensure that uniformed enforcement…
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has struck out a charge preferred on Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah over her alleged failure to give notice to police prior to a rally event last year. A three-man bench chaired by Justice Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat held that there were merits to allow her appeal to…
Press Statement Reform the prisons system not perpetuate cruel and inhumane detention conditions 4 September 2016 Lawyers for Liberty is deeply concerned over the recent suggestion by former Court of Appeal judge Mohd Noor Abdullah that the detention conditions in prisons be made worse, by among others making it infested with rats, cockroaches and mosquitoes…
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 — Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz is opposed to Putrajaya’s planned amendments to the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 1976, saying these would be seen as interference in the independent professional body representing lawyers in peninsular Malaysia. The federal minister said the Bar Council should be allowed to conduct themselves as they saw…
KUALA LUMPUR: The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd can claim for damages from the Home Minister for suspending two of its publications last year, Court of Appeal ruled. A three-man panel unanimously dismissed the appeal brought by the Home Minister and the Home Ministry secretary-general. Court of Appeal judge Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh held that the…
Press Statement Promote freedom of assembly and facilitate the #TangkapMO1 protest 22 August 2016 Lawyers for Liberty is appalled at the biased stance of the police and DBKL when faced with the prospect of a public protest on 27 August, dubbed #TangkapMO1 on the 1MDB scandal and in particular, Malaysian Official 1, as stated in…
KUALA LUMPUR: It was Benjamin Franklin who said in 1755 that “those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”, recalled Suhakam Chairman Razali Ismail in the keynote speech at the “Civil Society Conference on National Security” in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Franklin’s simple phrase reminds…
PHNOM PENH: Two Cambodian maids released from the Juru detention depot in Penang, Malaysia, have alleged torture of detainees by depot staff. One of them claimed she knew of at least three detainees who shared the same block with her dying of injuries from beatings. The Cambodia Daily reported that the Cambodian Embassy in Malaysia…
Press Statement Parliament does not provide any genuine check and balance on the NSC Act 4 August 2016 Lawyers for Liberty views with serious concern the series of misinformation that have been propagated by supporters of the National Security Council Act 2016 (NSC Act) that Parliament supposedly has an oversight role or that the declaration…
KUALA LUMPUR: The government will study the “interesting” proposal to relieve the Attorney-General of his position of overseeing the judges from the Sessions Court and Magistrate’s Court, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said today. Azalina said the proposal mentioned by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria last Saturday “makes some sense”. “I…
Press Statement The NSC Act 2016 should be suspended pending further consultation 27 July 2016 Lawyers for Liberty is shocked and appalled that the controversial National Security Council Act 2016 has been gazetted to come into force on 1 August 2016 despite very serious concerns raised by civil society, lawyers, elected representatives and even the…