Human rights group Suaram has lodged a complaint with the Human Rights
Commission (Suhakam) on what it describes as persecution by government
agencies with their launching of investigations against the NGO.
In a 14-point memorandum
delivered to the Suhakam headquarters yesterday, Suaram called on the
commission to make clear its stance on the harassment of Suaram which it
says violates human rights and civil liberties.
It also urged
Suhakam to advise the government to stop these "violations" and to
condemn the "perversion" of the civil service in a bid to get at Suaram.
"Suaram is gravely concerned about the overreaching powers displayed by
Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri
Yaakob in interfering and influencing the on-going Companies Commission
Malaysia (CCM) investigation of Suaram.
"Suaram
questions the integrity and overreaching powers displayed by the
minister's constant hovering above the registrar of companies and the
attorney-general prior and throughout the investigations," said Suaram
executive director E Nalini (right).
Nalini noted that Ismail Sabri had placed himself in an "embarrassing situation" after he announced that Suaram was expected to be charged in two days only to have the CCM's investigation papers returned by the Attorney-General Chamber's.
Suaram had insisted that its vehicle Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd's accounts
are above board, claiming that the government was targeting it for
initiating legal proceedings in France on alleged kickbacks from
Malaysia's purchase of two Scorpene submarines.
‘ROS' turn to fish in Suaram pond'
In a separate statement, Nalini also condemned the Registrar of
Societies' (ROS) attempt to initiate a new probe against Suaram.
She claimed that the ROS' visit to
its office on Sept 19 was another attempt at fishing for offenses
against Suaram once the AG chambers had kicked back CCM's probe.
"Suaram
views this entire orchestra kicked off by the government since July 3,
2012 as a concerted move to kill freedom of association and all other
related freedoms once and for all.
"As leading human rights
defenders in Malaysia, we strongly call upon the government to end all
harassment and immediately cease its unbecoming perversion of its civil
servants," she said.
The NGO had stressed that the name "Suaram" and its legal entity Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd were the same and attempts to portray them as being separate was a "dirty trick" to build a case against them.
"A
'society' as defined in Section 2 of the Societies Act 1966 expressly
excludes a company registered under any written law relating to
companies (the Companies Act 1965) for the time being in force in
Malaysia.
"It is by this reason that the Registrar of Societies
has no jurisdiction to perform an inspection of Suaram, unlike the CCM
whereby Suaram has provided full cooperation since early July 2012,"
said Nalini.
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