Media Statement
Badrul's Re-arrest: BN-Govt Detemined to Strangle Dissent
The government seems to be determined to destroy whatever little resistance there is to the BN's hegemony. It will come as no surprise that the remnants of opposition leaders and vocal activists are picked up and put away in the near future for daring to speak out against and stand up to the BN government's high-handed rule.
The sudden re-arrest this morning of Dr Badrul Amin Bahrom, a 40-year old motivational expert linked to the opposition party, Keadilan, is the latest sign that the BN is riding roughshod over human rights and natural justice.
Badrul was first detained under the ISA on 20 April last year and then released on 3 November with severe restrictions on his civil and political rights.
He was scheduled to appear in court on 5 March to find out if he would be charged for violating those restrictions.
Aliran fails to understand why he should be sent back to the Kamunting Detention Camp. If he had violated any laws, he should have been charged in court, where he would have had an opportunity to defend himself.
The BN government's use of the ISA and its continued total disregard for the rule of law shows that it cannot tolerate any form of dissent. It also reveals an increasingly authoritarian streak.
This alarming tendency can been seen in its latest attempt to curb freedom of expression - the move to extend the strict Printing Presses and Publications Act to cover the Internet. It shows that the BN government is determined to remove whatever little room there is left for dissenting voices.
One wonders whether this clampdown is aimed at silencing criticism of the government at a time when several corporate scandals have surfaced. The government does not want to be held accountable for these privatisation disasters and therefore has to crush dissenting voices.
Let's be clear: Mahathir is no democrat. He is an authoritarian leader who will brook no challenge or dissent from any quarter. Malaysians should ask themselves what role they have played in allowing this state of affairs to continue.
Aliran Executive Committee
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Aliran is shocked that there has been no let-up in the use of the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial, to crack down against the Barisan Nasional's political opponents.