Malaysia: Drop Charges Against Protest Participants

ARCHIVES 2012

By admin-s On May 22, 2012

Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim (C) talks to his supporters after the verdict of his sodomy trial was announced in Kuala Lumpur on January 9, 2012.

The Malaysian authorities appear to be using what happened at the Bersih demonstration as a pretext to prosecute political opposition leaders. These charges, and the actions by police at the Bersih rally, don’t inspire confidence that the Malaysian government is committed to protecting basic free expression rights. – Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director (Human Rights Watch)

(Bangkok) – The Malaysian government should withdraw charges against opposition leaders for their participation in the “Bersih 3.0” demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on April 28, 2012. A criminal charge sheet obtained by Malaysian media indicates that authorities will charge former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, president of the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR); Azmin Ali, PKR deputy president; and Badrul Hisham Shaharin, a PKR activist, with disobeying judicial orders and taking part in a prohibited street protest.

The Bersih movement, a coalition of some 150 organizations promoting reform of election laws and procedures, held a mass rally on April 28 at Dataran Merkeda (Independence Square). Days earlier, the authorities had obtained a judicial order to stop the protest, but Bersih proceeded with a demonstration in the area surrounding the square. The protest proceeded mostly without incident but ended with police using excessive force, including teargas and water cannons, and beating and arresting as many as 1,700 protesters.

“The Malaysian authorities appear to be using what happened at the Bersih demonstration as a pretext to prosecute political opposition leaders,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These charges, and the actions by police at the Bersih rally, don’t inspire confidence that the Malaysian government is committed to protecting basic free expression rights.”

The PKR leaders are being charged under Malaysia’s new Peaceful Assembly Act, which went into effect mere days before the protest. The Malaysian parliament enacted the law in late 2011 as part of a billed legislative “reform” package, revoking an earlier law that prohibited all protests without permits and had been used to outlaw virtually all political protests.

The Peaceful Assembly Act bans so-called street protests and contains an overly broad list of areas in which all assemblies are banned – a list that makes it virtually impossible for protesters to hold demonstrations in urban areas, Human Rights Watch said. Anwar, Azmin, and Badrul are specifically charged under the act for engaging in a “street protest.”

Human Rights Watch called on the government to rewrite the Peaceful Assembly Act so that it conforms with international human rights standards.