Australian Broadcasting Corporation
23 Aug, 2008
As the rivalry between Malaysia's political parties heats up, civil and legal groups say their already limited freedoms have been further whittled down, and accuse Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi of seeking to curb dissent.
Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speakers: Ambiga Sreenavasan, President of the Malaysian Bar Council; Brother Lawrence Andrew, editor, Malaysian Catholic Herald
PODGER: Earlier this month the Malaysian Bar Council ran an inter-faith forum on the legal issues and problems facing people who convert to Islam and their families. But the 150 participants had to call off their meeting after they were disrupted by Muslim protestors, some of whom forced their way into the building. Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenavasan says in the past, those who'd burst into the forum would have been arrested. She says the fact they weren't is a sign of a growing tolerance of restrictions on freedom of assembly.
AMBIGA: To be fair to the police, I even thanked them at the forum because I think they did do their best to keep the crowd under control. They even accompanied these people up into the room to ensure that there was no trouble when they were in the room. There were a lot of people who wanted more than that. They feel these people should have been arrested for their intimidating manner. The police did what they could to keep the peace but it did look as though they were handling these people with kid gloves when in fact in other instances they would have arrested them then.
PODGER: Ms Sreenavasan says the historic limitations on the media and freedom of expression have been tightened even further this year. While unwilling to comment directly on the escalating rivalry between Anwar Ibrahim and Abdullah Badawi, she says civil and legal rights groups are concerned at the growing restrictions.
AMBIGA: I'm quite surprised at the controls, the constant threat to use the Sedition Act, the Internal Security Act, against us included. Then you have the recent show-cause letter against the Herald, you have the shutting down earlier in the year of some publications although they gave their licences (back) later, so I would say it's a bit alarming actually, the manner in which the controls over freedom of expression are taking form.
PODGER: Ms Sreenavasan referred there to a letter from the government to the weekly Catholic Herald, warning its editors to to stick to religion and refrain from covering politics. The paper's written back insisting its stories, which have included rising petrol prices, are within its publishing licence. There's been no official response to the paper from Kuala Lumpur. The Catholic Herald's editor is Brother Lawrence Andrew.
ANDREW: We are actually in a limbo right now; we do not know what is our standing. There is a threat to freedom of expression, but I want see a positive light in this and move ahead. I do not think they have any real grounds to close us, so what we will do is if - if in the event it is found, and I hope it's very far from us - if in the event they decide to issue us with that closure, then we will have to take them, naturally, to the courts.
PODGER: Observers say the Catholic Herald's lost its publishing licence in the past for similar offences, and say the fact it hasn't this time suggest the government's taking a more circumspect approach. But Brother Lawrence says there's no doubt in his mind Prime Minister Badawi's government is feeling the pressure over the challenge from Mr Anwar.
ANDREW: Well all this kind of controversy that's erupted around us obviously springs from that, and from what I gather in one of the officials of the ministry in their conversation with a journalist, they did mention this, because we carried something about Anwar, so they are closing on us. This kind of pressure is there, yes. So even when the price - there was the petrol price hike, we analysed the situation and we said, this hike is not proper, because it is the speculators of the New York Mercantile Exchange that is speculating the price and increasing the value of crude oil, and therefore it's not the right thing, it's unethical, it is sinful. And so this price should come down. This is what we wrote, but they took offence at this.
PODGER: If Anwar Ibrahim wins next week's parliamentary by-election in Penang, and if he goes on to win a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Badawi next month, he still has to convince his supporters - and some members of Mr Badawi's government - to let him take over. If he ever does become prime minister, he's promised a wide range of reforms, which include liberalising the media. Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenavasan says Mr Anwar would need to keep those promises, or his political support will evaporate.
AMBIGA: There is a very high expectation of him, because of the promises that have been made. There's also a very high expectation of our government. Really, at the end of the day, they're just going to have to deliver.
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