Tough new security legislation came into force on Monday in Malaysia, with critics saying the “draconian” law threatens democracy and could be used against opponents of the prime minister.
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“These pay no heed to human rights, a fair trial, freedom of movement, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”, added Josef Benedict, AI’s Deputy Director for South East Asia and the Pacific.
The UN’s human rights agency and other rights organisations have pilloried the National Security Council Act as a potentially frightening step backward.
However, Najib is said to have strongly defended the law and accused the critics of deliberately triggering fear.
“These provisions run counter to the requirement to investigate wrongdoing and hold institutions and their personnel accountable in the case of human rights violations”, said Laurent Meillan, OHCHR’s acting regional representative in Bangkok. More than 160 people have been detained for suspected links to Islamic State over the past three years.
“There is good reason to fear that the Act will be yet another tool in the hands of the government to crack down on peaceful protests under the guise of national security”, he said. “These laws were necessary, and other countries have since followed our lead”, Najib said. It is being investigated in several countries including the U.S., Switzerland and Singapore.
The U.S. government alleged this month that billions of dollars were diverted from bond deals arranged by Goldman, for the personal use of officials and some people associated with the state fund.
In the largest initiative of its kind by the U.S. Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, authorities in the United Sates have initiated measures to seize more than $1 billion worth of luxury real estate, artworks, jewelry and even rights to a Hollywood movie that authorities allege were obtained with assets stolen from the 1MDB fund, which Najib founded in 2009 and now is owned by the finance ministry that the prime minister controls.
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The money was used to pay for luxury properties in NY and California, a $35 million jet, art by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet and helped finance the Hollywood film, “The Wolf of Wall Street”, made by Red Granite Pictures headed by Najib’s stepson, according to the DOJ complaints.
