KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Following controversial appeals by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), human rights groups have criticised the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government for breaking its vow to end prosecution of human rights proponents.
The groups polled by Malay Mail pointed out that despite Putrajaya’s insistence that it will not pursue certain classes of offences, the AGC has at times taken the opposite step.
Free speech group Article 19’s Malaysia programme officer Nalini Elumalai said that some activists charged under the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) regime should have already been freed from such charges by now.
She cited the case of graphic artist Fahmi Reza, who was still fined with a reduced sentence of RM10,000 for posting a clown sketch of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak online, as one example.
“On Fahmi’s case the appeal was shocking, he should have been freed from all charges immediately and walked as a free man,” she told Malay Mail.
“Lowering his sentence is totally out of the question because it still sets a precedent that what he did was a crime.
“There should be a clear message that these people should have never been prosecuted in the first place,” Nalini added.
Besides Fahmi, activist Fadiah Nadwa Fikri was repeatedly investigated for her remarks, following complaints from pro-Malay groups.
In October, a man was arrested for allegedly spreading insulting images of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, despite the latter urging the police to refrain from making such arrests.
Nalini said the PH government appears to have no clear roadmap, strategy and commitments in putting human rights in their political agenda.
“It is quite disturbing and worrying that the government keeps backtracking on their promises,” she said.
Nalini conceded there have been positive moves from the PH government such as the release of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in addition to the acquittal of cartoonist Zunar, lawyer N. Surendran, and Sungai Buloh MP R. Sivarasa of all charges under the Sedition Act.
However, Nalini questioned what has happened to the formation of the Institutional Reforms Committee, which was tasked with making recommendations to PH on priorities for legislative and structural reforms.
She said the committee’s report was submitted to the Cabinet in July and the outcome has yet to be made public.
“Lots of non-governmental organisations including Article 19 have invested their time in it,” she said.
For Eric Paulsen, lawyer and director of regional groups Fortify Rights, there seems to be a disjointed effort within the AGC when it comes to pursuing politically-motivated cases done under the previous administration.
“The Attorney-General (AG) needs to be firm in his stand to not prosecute those under these archaic laws. While the AG has maintained he will not prosecute those under these laws, some of the deputy public prosecutors (DPP) have still continued to pursue these cases,’’ he said.
Paulsen was referring to laws that Putrajaya has pledged to not continue using, such as the Sedition Act and Section 223 of the Multimedia and the Communications Act.
Board member of local rights group Pusat Komas, Jerald Joseph, also echoed Paulsen’s sentiment, stating further that the AGC must remind the DPPs that they must be realigned to the government’s policies.
“The AG must be clear and firm in explaining the new government’s policies to the DPPs. They must be aligned so that this sort of [politically-motivated] prosecution would not proceed,’’ he said.
Nalini said the six decades of BN regime have inculcated many bad practices that have unfortunately been handed over from generation to generation within the civil service.
“The reform process should include human rights training as part of their syllabus and train AGC staff, law practitioners, enforcement agencies, and judges. This will ensure that liberty and human rights to be taken seriously,” she added.
