Day: April 10, 2015

by Shaun Tan
Malay Mail Online
April 10, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — Support for hudud exists only on the fringes despite the high-profile coverage on the controversy over the Islamic penal law in Malaysia, said Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

Speaking during a summit organised by the Malaysian Students Council of Australia (MASCA) in Brisbane, Australia yesterday, the Umno leader also said his party’s apparent support for hudud was “just politics”.

“Hudud isn’t mainstream. The mainstream is moderation and democracy,” he said.

During discussions on the topic, he said while the Quran uses the word “hudud” 14 times, none of the mentions involves a fixed punishment, but instead appears in relation to marriage, divorce and kindness to orphans. Continue reading “Umno playing politics with hudud push, Saifuddin tells students in Australia”

The Edge
Rakyat Times
10th April 2015

The Malaysian Government’s ambitious investment experiment, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), has turned into a political and financial minefield for Prime Minister Najib Razak and his ministers.

In recent months, the debt-laden sovereign wealth fund has made domestic and international headlines with explosive allegations of corruption, widespread mismanagement of public funds, serious political misbehaviour and opaque corporate dealings.

The relentless attacks on 1MDB – which have included public disclosures of confidential e-mail trails highlighting opaque transactions for highly dubious investments – have not only come from the country’s feisty opposition, but also former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who in recent days has publicly called for Najib’s resignation.

“Najib is facing too many scandals, and there are no answers,” Dr. Mahathir told reporters last week, adding that if the country’s dominant party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which – as the main partner in the Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition – has helmed Malaysia since independence in 1957, wants to remain in power, then “I think they must change the prime minister”.

Writing Najib’s political obituary, however, may be a little premature, say several senior UMNO officials aligned to the UMNO president and prime minister. Continue reading “Is the 1MDB a tragedy or a farce?”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib has again denied any involvement in the 2006 murder of the Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu in a pre-reorded interview with TV3 yesterday.

This follows former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad joining the increasing chorus asking who have given the two former police commandos, Azila Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar the order to kill Altantuya.

On the murder of the Mongolian, Najib said he had sworn three times, including in a mosque in Permatang Pauh in 2008 that he did not know Altantuya and that he was not involved whether directly or indirectly.

Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah has also surfaced to Najib’s defence, stressing that police has cleared Najib of any involvement in Altantuya’s murder.

Abdullah said he was briefed about the case during his tenure and appeared convinced about the investigation’s outcome.

As Najib has reiterated that he did not know Altantuya and was not involved directly or indirectly in the Mongolian’s murder, why is Najib so resistant to the proposal for full inquiry as to the motive of Altantuya’s murder, and in particular, who had given the orders to the two ex-police commandos to kill the Mongolian and blow up her body with military explosives? Continue reading “Royal Commission of Inquiry into Altantuya’s murder and conduct of various authorities in the case is the only way to salvage the credibility and repute of Najib and his premiership from the Mongolian albatross”

by Nick Cumming-Bruce
New York Times
APRIL 9, 2015

GENEVA — The United Nations human rights chief on Thursday joined in criticism of the Malaysian government’s planned legislation on sedition and the prevention of terrorism, warning that both bills threatened to severely curtail freedom of opinion and expression and breach the country’s international obligations.

The government’s move to restore powers of indefinite detention without trial and without safeguards against abuse was among “serious shortcomings” in the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said in a statement.

The Malaysian authorities abolished indefinite detention powers in 2012 after years of criticism from human rights bodies, but the new measure allows the police to detain suspects for up to two years, renewable indefinitely, without trial or any form of judicial review. Continue reading “U.N. Rights Chief Criticizes Malaysian Antiterror Measure”