Nurul Izzah Anwar addresses protestors in central Kuala Lumpur on February 14. She says Malaysia does not qualify to lead Asean as well as be part of the UN Security Council as it failed to show moral authority by persecuting critics at home. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, February 20, 2015.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should relinquish Malaysia’s seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as well as its current Asean chairmanship if he failed to stop the crackdown on opposition leaders and activists, PKR's Nurul Izzah Anwar said today.The Lembah Pantai MP said the government, instead of showing moral authority as it took over the Asean chairmanship this year, was targeting opposition-linked individuals using the archaic Sedition Act, while others escaped punishment despite racially provocative statements.“As a member of the United Nations and currently sitting on the Security Council, we find it shameful that Malaysia can continue to wilfully taint the rule of law through selective prosecution and investigations that seemingly favour the government," said Nurul Izzah, who is also the PKR vice-president, said in a statement.“There seems to be no end to the authorities’ penchant to create a culture of fear and oppression by going on a 'sedition witch hunt' and closely policing public debate, even on social media!"She was referring to the arrests of cartoonist Zulkifli Anwar UlHaque or Zunar on February 11 and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S. Arutchelvan yesterday, after both commented the Federal Court’s verdict on February 10 in the sodomy case involving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.Nurul Izzah said that while the police were swift to act against the two, they ignored "racist tweets" by ministers and assertions of the ruling elite's involvement in the 2006 murder of Mongolian citizen, Altantuya Shaariibuu.She named Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who recently called for a boycott of Chinese traders."Unfortunately, no reparatory action has been taken by the authorities until today."Nurul Izzah said leadership in Malaysia was lost the moment the prime minister reneged on his promise to repeal the Sedition Act last year.“The people should be free to exercise their right to criticise the government without fear or reprisal from the authorities. No government is infallible, least of which one that makes political persecution its raison d’etre.“Najib must end this spate of persecutions or do the needful by relinquishing Malaysia’s position in both the United Nations Security Council and the Asean chairmanship."Inspector-general of police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has gone on Twitter to warn of action against any one criticising the Federal Court's guilty verdict on Anwar.Besides Arutchelvan, Khalid also named PKR leaders Rafizi Ramli, Fariz Musa and Dr Afif Bahardin, as werll as DAP's Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming, for questioning the court decision. – February 20, 2015.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น