Deaths in Custody — We Don't Want To "De-motivate" The Police, Do We?

The statistics regarding deaths in police custody in Malaysia is a leaf out of the macabre: 156 persons died in police custody between 2000 and February 2011,¹ and it has been reported that there were at least six such deaths in 2012,² with this being the fifth one in 2013.³  This data is alarming, as it points to an average of at least one death in police custody per month since 2000. 

The Malaysian Bar is dismayed and saddened by the news of yet another death in police custody, involving 32-year-old N Dharmendran.  He was reportedly arrested on 11 May 2013, and died on 21 May 2013 whilst in police remand at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters. 

The death of N Dharmendran is tragic and inexcusable.  It is yet another incident that raises serious questions about the treatment and safety of detainees in police custody, and the methods of interrogation used.  It underscores the importance of the requirement for those in police custody to have immediate access to legal counsel upon arrest. 

In the case of N Dharmendran’s arrest, the protocol prescribed under the Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan (“YBGK”) scheme, which is an initiative made possible by Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, and supported by the Government, does not appear to have been complied with by the police.  The guidelines for enforcement officers stipulate that as soon as an arrest has been made, and before the suspect is questioned, the police officer must inform the suspect’s family (or friend) of the arrest, and must also provide details of the suspect and the arrest to YBGK, who will then despatch a lawyer to offer legal representation to the arrested person.  

However, we understand that YBGK did not receive any notification from the police about N Dharmendran’s arrest.  We regret to note that this is the second occasion that we are aware of where YBGK was not notified of an arrest, and the detainee later died in police custody.  In the first incident, 32-year-old K Nagarajan had been found dead on 24 Dec 2012 in the Dang Wangi police station lockup.

The present state of affairs has led to much public outrage and an erosion of confidence in the police.  The police must be proactive in ensuring that the wrongful actions of some amongst them do not tarnish the standing of the whole force.  Unless this is addressed, the police force will unfortunately remain a diminished institution in the eyes of the public. 

The unabated deaths in police custody reinforce the Malaysian Bar’s repeated calls for the Government to implement the recommendation of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police, in its report published in May 2005, for the setting up of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (“IPCMC”) to function as an independent and external oversight body to investigate complaints about police personnel.

It is untenable for the Government to continue to ignore the dire need for the IPCMC, in the face of continuing cases of deaths in police custody.

Read more here:

http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/press_statements/press_release_unabated_deaths_in_custody_will_they_ever_end_.html

There is no need to establish the Independent Police Misconduct and Complaints Commission (IPCMC), said Minister for Governance and Integrity Paul Low. He said there is an existing channel called the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) that would perform the same duties as the IPCMC.

“There is no need to form the IPCMC, we already have a channel that allows the public to lodge complaints with regard to the enforcement agencies called the EAIC,” he said. “There is lack of awareness. I believe that the only thing left to do is to educate the public on how one can lodge a complaint via the EAIC,” he added.

Meanwhile, Low also said he had brought up N Dhamendran’s case at the Cabinet meeting held yesterday. Dhamendran, 32, died in police custody on May 21. The post-mortem reported concluded that he had died of blunt force trauma and the case has been classified as murder.

The police headquarters in Bukit Aman has since established the case as murder and had set up an independent task force to investigate the issue. “We as the government, need to act on this issue urgently. I brought it up at the Cabinet meeting yesterday and the outcome was positive,” Low told a press conference.

He said Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has agreed to cooperate and work with the relevant people. “The minister has also promised to urge the police to hasten their investigations in Dhamendran’s case,” he added. Also present at the press conference was Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) director D Ravindran, whom Dhamendran’s family accused of harassing them.

Ravindran explained that there were no conversations hinting towards a settlement nor asking the family to disengage their lawyers.

Read more here:

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/05/30/no-need-for-ipcmc-says-minister/

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has welcomed suggestions to suspend policemen who were involved in allegedly murdering a detainee but does not want the morale of the police force dampened.

“That’s true but we will have to re-look at regulations so that it doesn’t de-motivate the policemen. We will have to study the entire police interrogation procedure,” he said at a press conference held at the Prisons Department headquarters here this morning.

He said this in response to criticism by two Indian leaders against the police’s decision to suspend their personnel who was involved in the alleged murder of detainee N Dharmendran.

Read more here:

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/05/31/zahid-dont-demoralise-police-force/

French gay marriage opponents stage big Paris march

Published by Free Malaysia Today on 27 May 2013.

Several hundred thousand opponents of same-sex marriage marched in central Paris on Sunday against a reform the unpopular French government passed last month at the price of deepening political polarization. Large park grounds around Les Invalides monument were full of protesters waving pink and blue flags, while far-right activists hung a banner on the ruling Socialist Party headquarters urging President Francois Hollande to quit.

The protests, which began as a grass roots campaign strongly backed by the Roman Catholic Church, have morphed into a wider movement with opposition politicians and far-right militants airing their discontent with Hollande. Although they have failed to block gay marriage, the protesters hope their renewed show of force will help stop or slow down further laws some Socialists want allowing assisted procreation and surrogate motherhood for gay couples.

Jean-Francois Cope, leader of the opposition UMP party, marched in the demonstration and urged young protesters to join his party to keep up pressure on the left-wing government. “The next rendez-vous should be at the ballot boxes for the municipal elections,” he said, referring to local polls due next year where conservatives hope to profit from the protest movement’s unexpectedly strong mobilization.

While the rally was peaceful throughout much of the day, police said they arrested 96 hardline opponents to the gay marriage law later on for refusing to disperse or occupying private property. Once the bulk of protesters had gone home, clashes erupted between hardliners wielding sticks and riot police, filling the Invalides Esplanade with tear gas. The violence was less severe than at the end of previous demonstrations, however. Police said 150,000 marched yesterday while protest organizers said a million people took part.

Warnings of violence ignored

Interior Minister Manuel Valls warned protesters on Saturday not to bring children along because of violence he feared after far-right militants clashed with police at recent rallies. He mobilized 4,500 police to secure the event.

Many parents ignored his warnings and some picnicked with children on the lawn at the rally. “Look, it’s perfectly safe here,” said Elisabeth Huet from Orleans, who marched along with her adult daughter and three small grandchildren.

A survey published on Sunday showed 53 percent of those polled support gay marriage and adoption, indicating a slide of about 10 points since the protests began last November. It said 72 percent thought the protests should stop now. 

Plagued by economic recession, unemployment at more than 10 percent and pressure to reduce the public deficit, Hollande got some respite on Sunday from another poll showing his record low popularity had inched up four points to 29 percent this month.

While leaders of Hollande’s Socialist Party denounced the protest against a law already passed in parliament and validated by the Constitutional Council, the conservative UMP party was split over whether to continue the rallies. There were fewer Catholic priests than at earlier demonstrations. Several bishops joined previous marches, but distanced themselves as protests became more openly political.

France’s first gay wedding is due to take place on Wednesday in Montpellier, France’s self-proclaimed capital of gay culture. France, a traditionally Catholic country, followed 13 others including Canada, Denmark, Sweden and most recently Uruguay and New Zealand in allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed.

In the United States, Washington D.C. and 12 states have legalized same-sex marriage.

- Reuters

Link: 

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2013/05/27/french-gay-marriage-opponents-stage-big-paris-march/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2tvDAMmhCbY

#RCISabah: Foreigners commit 30% of serious crimes in Sabah

By Boo Su-Lyn. Published by Malaysian Insider on 23 May 2013.

Foreigners are responsible for 30 per cent of index crime in Sabah, the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants heard today amid a perceived spike in criminal offences.

Sabah police chief Datuk Hamza Taib testified today that foreigners committed 15 per cent of index crimes against locals ― including violent crimes like murder, rape, robberies and theft ― and another 15 per cent against other foreigners.

“To me, it’s not that serious,” said Hamza when asked if 15 per cent was a serious figure.

Hamza also insisted that index crime has been dropping for the past three years, but did not provide figures to detail the reduction.

Foreigners have often been blamed for a perceived crime increase in the Borneo state that is struggling with an influx of immigrants.

More than a quarter of Sabah’s population are foreigners, totalling a staggering 889,000 out of the 3.2 million-strong population in the state.

News portal Free Malaysia Today reported last November that the death of a local teenage girl in Kota Marudu in November was rumoured to be linked to foreigners.

Sulu gunmen also invaded Lahad Datu in Sabah last February to stake a claim on the East Coast territory, resulting in the deaths of ten members of the Malaysian security forces.

“Understandably, Malaysians living in Sabah feel threatened and insecure as the number of foreigners keeps increasing. Incidents of drug-related crimes, burglaries and robberies are common,” former Sabah state secretary Tan Sri Simon Sipaun wrote in his June 18 article on Sabahkini last year.

“Gone are the days when we could leave our houses unlocked. Now they are like prisons. Things can only get worse if the demand for jobs is not met by employment opportunities,” he added.

Hamza also disputed today rumours that the Sulu gunmen from southern Philippines who had invaded Lahad Datu possessed Malaysian ICs.

“One hundred per cent they are illegals, but they’re being supported by locals,” said the Sabah police commissioner.

He added that he could not guarantee another foreign invasion would not happen in Sabah again, but stressed that the Eastern Sabah Safety Zone (Esszone) was formed to strengthen the security of the east coast.

Hamza reportedly said last August that the overall crime rate in Sabah had dropped by 10 per cent, with street crimes dipping by 54 per cent.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said last Sunday that newly-appointed Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should quit “playing politics” and focus on reducing crime instead.

Putrajaya has sought to address concerns about crime by introducing crime reduction as a National Key Result Area (NKRA), which the police and the government’s efficiency unit Pemandu said has been successful in cutting crime. But the frequency of crime reports in the news and social media has raised doubts over the drop in the official crime figures.

Link: 

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/foreigners-commit-30pc-of-serious-crimes-in-sabah-rci-told/

Sedition dragnet reeks of double standard

Batu MP Chua Tian Chang, activist Haris Ibrahim and PAS’s Tamrin Ghafar were arrested for sedition today and brought to the Jinjang police station for questioning, according to reports. It is understood the trio were detained separately in an apparent police crackdown today. This is the third police investigation into sedition since the May 5 general election...

The first was student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim who was charged with sedition in the Jalan Duta court complex this morning. The 24-year-old pleaded not guilty and was released on a RM5,000 court bail with his trial set for a mention on July 2...

According to the charges read out this morning, his words had a seditious tendency and were aimed at rallying Malaysians to change the current government through undemocratic means.

His statement, in Malay: “Take my details, lodge a police report, because today, I would like to invite all those here today to gather and take to the streets to seize back our power! Can we do that? Can we do that? Can we do that? We do not have much time left, get ready, buy shoes, buy tracksuits, buy jeans, get ready to take to the streets because in a third world country like Malaysia, elections cannot topple a government. Only the people’s power can topple a government. Remember, ladies and gentlemen, this is the only opportunity we have.”

Charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948, the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris undergraduate faces a jail term of not less three years, or a fine of up to RM5,000 or both, if convicted. Adam Adli, who came to court in a black T-shirt, was represented by lawyers Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, N. Surendran, Afiq M. Noor and Shamsul Iskandar Mat Akin.

Read more here: 

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/tian-chua-haris-ibrahim-held-in-sedition-crackdown/

Speaking to FMT, S Vell Paari said he was concerned to learn about the arrests of Anything But Umno (ABU) leader Haris Ibrahim, PKR vice-president Tian Chua and PAS’ Thamrin Ghaffar. The trio were held this afternoon in connection with a forum on May 13, where a call was made to topple the Barisan Nasional government via street protests. Vell Paari said the arrests would anger the public further as the authorities would be perceived to be practicing double standard when it comes to enforcing the Sedition Act.

“While the likes of [Perkasa leaders] Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Noordin; and academic Ridhuan Tee Abdullah are allowed to roam free despite making incendiary remarks about race and religion, these opposition figures are however swiftly hauled up. “Even the Utusan Malaysia frontpage in the aftermath of the general election, which read ‘Apa Lagi Cina Mahu? [What more do the Chinese want], screamed sedition but our leaders chose to defend the publication,” added the MIC strategy director.

Vell Paari said this development did not bode well for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s administration. “As it is BN suffers from a severe perception crisis and these arrests would just aggravate the situation,” he warned. Vell Paari said while the police had the right to investigate those who called for street protests to topple the government, it should not resort to using draconian laws...

Talk is rife that the government’s hard stance stemmed from the appointment of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the new home minister, who is said to be reintroducing the facets of Mahathirism. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a BN source said that he would not be surprised if former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad was pulling the strings. “Najib was given his chance and he blew it. His electoral performance was worse than his predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. “So perhaps Umno is now looking to its grand wizard to set the house in order,” he told FMT.

Read more here:
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/05/23/sedition-dragnet-reeks-of-double-standard/

Sarawak lagging behind in everything

By Joseph Tawie. Published by Free Malaysia Today on 23 May 2013.

Sarawak, which is the largest state in Malaysia, has only 212 government-run clinics. According to the Social Statistics Bulletin Malaysia 2012, this included only seven rural clinics (Klinik Desa), 197 health centres and eight 1Malaysia clinics.

Expressing his surpise, Ba’ Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian said in comparison Perak which has about the same population as Sarawak had 328 clinics of which 242 were rural clinics (Klinik Desa). “(Even) Pahang, the largest state in Peninsula Malaysia but with an area less than a third of the size of Sarawak, has a total of 324 clinics, 243 of which are rural clinics,” he said yesterday while debating the address of Yang Dipertua Negeri Sarawak.

“Whichever way one looks at it, it cannot be denied that Sarawak has not been getting her fair share of allocation, resulting in deprivation of adequate healthcare for her people. “The people deserve the same standard and accessibility of healthcare as that received by their fellow citizens in West Malaysia but it seems that this will continue to be denied to them for many years yet,” he said.

Fifty years ago, then prime minister of Malaya Tunku Abdul Rahman said that one of the principal objectives in forming Malaysia was to further the economic development of the Borneo territories so that their standards of living and technical skills might be raised, and a firm basis provided for accelerated economic growth. He announced that “measures would be introduced to accelerate industrial development in the Borneo territories, and to minimise the disqualifying effect of free play of the economic forces so that the gap between a relatively backward state and the advanced would be narrowed and not widened.”

Bian said: “Half a century after the formation of Malaysia, the ethnic communities of Sarawak are still not able to integrate into the economic system of Malaysia. “At this 50th year mark, it is appropriate that we examine the extent to which Sarawak has benefited from the economic progress of Malaysia, given that prior to the formation of Malaysia, the political leaders of Malaya made many promises, tacit or expressed, regarding the potential diffusion of socio-economic development from Peninsula Malaysia to Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Poverty, education interlinked

Bian also touched on the issue of poverty in Sarawak, saying that while statistics showed that the situation had improved in 2012 as compared to 2009, he was still skeptical. In 2009 poverty levels stood at 5.9%. This figure dropped to 2.4% in 2012. “Whilst I would dearly like to believe this statistics, my observations during my trips in the rural areas and in the interior of Sarawak give me reason to doubt the accuracy of this figure. “The standard of living of a population is causally related to their educational attainment, which in turn determines their levels in the occupational hierarchy.

“In Sarawak, even to this day, the indigenous people, with only primary education or a lack of formal education, are relegated to jobs at the bottom end of the occupational hierarchy such as skilled agricultural workers or elementary workers. The Labour Force Survey Report Malaysia 2010 shows that Sarawak has the second highest number of workers in the labour force with no formal education that is 94,000 workers, which accounts for 22.6% of the national total.

“The figure for Sabah is even higher, and in total, both the Borneo states account for 55.5% of the workers in the Malaysian labour force with no formal education. “Worse still, there are 242,000 Sarawakian workers with only primary education, who account for 23% of the labour force of Sarawak and 12.8% of the labour force of Malaysia. “The number of workers with no formal education combined with those who have only primary education account for 31.9% of the Sarawak labour force and 35.4% of the national labour force,” he said.

‘Illiterate workers’

He pointed out that Sarawak accounted for only about 8% of the total labour force of Malaysia, but within that small fraction, Sarawakian workers accounted for 35.4% of the country’s functionally illiterate workers. This disparity, he said, bodes poorly for Sarawak in relation to its standing and competitiveness within Malaysia.

“With such a large proportion of the Sarawak labour force having inadequate education, how can the government hope to achieve its high-income economy goal by 2020? In fact, the energy-intensive SCORE region in Central Sarawak has plans to attract 1.2 million foreign workers over the next decade or so.

“Already, there are 600,000 foreigners in Sarawak and of these no less than 240,000, it has been estimated, are illegal immigrants from Indonesia and elsewhere. This leads to various other problems, which have been brought up here before in this August house,” he said.

He said that workers with no formal education combined with those who only have primary education are classified as ‘functionally illiterate’ by the World Bank. He said the majority of them currently worked in the primary or agriculture industry and in secondary (or manufacturing) and tertiary sectors as unskilled or elementary workers.

“Whatever mechanical or technical skills they may have acquired will not prevent them from being marginalized when micro-electronic processes are introduced to their work places in the near future,” said Bian, pointing out that skills are becoming obsolete more rapidly, and the demand for continuous skill training for the current workforce will be tremendous.

He said around 51% of this portion or 123,420 of Sarawak’s labour force are less than 35 years old and would still be alive by 2040. “The government needs to provide adequate training for them in community colleges so that they can acquire some form of skills and functional literacy to survive the Knowledge-based economy of the future,” he said.

According to the Social Statistics Bulletin Malaysia 2012, there are only three community colleges in Sarawak – Kuching Community College, Mas Gading Community College and Branch Betong Community College – with a total enrolment of 182 students. “Sadly there are only three community colleges in Sarawak. I urge the government to seriously address the needs of the 123,420 workers who will need to be trained,” he said.

Link: 

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/05/23/sarawak-lagging-behind-in-everything/

Outrage grows over scandal-tainted Malaysia state boss

By AFP. Published by MSN news on 23 May 2013.

Taib, 77, and his family are accused of massive corruption and running Malaysia's largest state like a family business, controlling its biggest companies with stakes in hundreds of corporations in Malaysia and abroad.

A Rolls Royce and flashy jet cover his transportation, while a vast war chest has kept his political authority unrivalled in 32 years in charge of the resource-rich Borneo island state, which remains one of Malaysia's poorest.

"The amount of control he has is astounding. He has been able to dominate politics and society here for nearly four decades," said Faisal Hazis, a political scientist with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

But pressure is rising both at home and abroad for action against a man referred to by his harshest critics as the "thief minister" and viewed as the prime example of a culture of corruption fueling public disgust.

Swiss-based activists Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), citing financial records, last year estimated the 77-year-old's worth at $15 billion, which would make him Malaysia's richest person.

Such revelations are hugely embarrassing for Prime Minister Najib Razak, who faces a slide in support due in part to corruption blamed for bleeding the country of billions of dollars annually.

But Taib, a member of Malaysia's 56-year-old ruling coalition, is widely considered untouchable because the Sarawak parliamentary bloc he controls helps keep the coalition in power.

"We don't see the political will to address grand corruption like this and it could destroy the country" by crippling economic development, said Josie Fernandez, Transparency International's Malaysia director.

A 2008 US State Department cable revealed by WikiLeaks called Taib "highly corrupt" and "unchallenged", saying Taib-linked companies dominate Sarawak's emerging economy.

He and his family are accused of routinely taking kickbacks for lucrative government contracts or awarding the projects to companies they control.

A prime example dominates the languid capital Kuching -- the state-assembly building whose swooping, golden roof gleams like a crown in the tropical sun.

A Taib-linked company won the $98 million contract to build the structure, which opened in 2009 and is home to a legislature he controls. A similar story surrounds a futuristic convention centre nearby.

Taib's office declined repeated interview requests.

A member of the Melanau tribe, supporters see him as defender of the autonomy of Sarawak -- which is marked by Christian and tribal groups -- against the Muslim Malay-dominated federal coalition based on mainland Malaysia.

Taib denies wrongdoing, saying Sarawak must be developed for its 2.4 million people. His critics spout "a web of lies and half-truths wrapped around ignorance and twisted logic", he fumed last year.

But pressure grows, including in the rugged interior where Taib is blamed for decimating vast rainforests through logging and dam projects and evicting tribes from ancestral lands, sparking protests.

Philip Jau travelled for two days by road with dozens of his Kayan tribesmen to protest this week in Kuching against a mega-dam pushed by Taib on the remote Baram river despite local opposition.

"The dam is a curse from hell," said Jau, wearing a feather-strewn traditional woven cap. "Taib will benefit, but he is killing the people."

Jau fears the dam will destroy a river ecosystem the Kayan rely on, noting that tribes near the already-completed Bakun dam, Malaysia's largest, say that has happened there.

BMF head Lukas Strauman said Taib and his family are the "chief culprits in destroying one of the world's last great rainforest areas."

In December, Swiss parliamentarians called for a freeze on any Taib assets there, saying he had abused office "in a spectacular way". Swiss authorities are yet to respond.

Malaysia's anti-graft agency launched an investigation in 2011, but it is widely accused of foot-dragging.

Faisal said action is highly unlikely as Sarawak seats proved crucial to the federal coalition winning May 5 elections, showing Taib is "more important than ever" to the government. Premier Najib's office declined to comment.

Taib has gotten even richer since the polls.

Shares of Taib-linked CMS -- Sarawak's largest conglomerate -- have soared 65 percent following the ruling-coalition win, and the compliant state assembly tripled Taib's pay to nearly $400,000 on Tuesday -- his birthday.

Link: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/outrage-grows-over-scandal-tainted-malaysia-state-boss

Radio Free Sarawak Receives International Media Award In Amman

Published by Sarawak Report on 21 May 2013.

Radio Free Sarawak received the highly prestigious Pioneer of Free Media Award from the International Press Institute at its annual conference in Amman last night.

Accompanied by two London colleagues founder Clare Rewcastle Brown received the honour on behalf of the whole RFS team of Sarawak Malaysian producers and presenters.

The award was established in 1996 to honour media or organizations which have fought to ensure freer and more independent media in their countries.

The other two honours presented by the IPI’s Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie were the World Press Freedom Hero Awards, bestowed on two highly distinguished journalists, Marie Colvin and Mika Yamamoto, who were both killed in Syria last year.

In her address to the 300 guests present at the gala dinner at the Hussein Club in Amman Alison Bethel McKenzie said:

“It is my pleasure and honour to hand the 2013 IPI Free Media Pioneer Award to Radio Free Sarawak.  Radio Free Sarawak was established by journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown and started broadcasting in November 2010 and bills itself as “the independent radio station that brings you the news you want to hear not what others want you to hear”. In practice this bold mission has involved among other things on-going attempts to expose alleged government corruption in Malaysia”

Ms Bethel McKenzie outlined how, broadcasting via shortwave radio and podcast, Radio Free Sarawak’s contributors have been detained by police and accused of possible acts of sedition by ministers in Malaysia.  Along with facing accusations of spreading malicious lies and threatening unity and harmony among races.

“During the bitterly contested 2011 Sarawak elections Radio Free Sarawak and its sister site Sarawak Report were subjected to what were believed to be deliberate, if ultimately unsuccessful efforts to silence them via cyber attacks. They have refused to be silenced. Instead they continue to broadcast loud and clear, critically and courageously”

Back on air shortly

The programme, which has taken a short recess following the election, is due back on air shortly to keep up its role informing the native people of Sarawak and hearing their views.

In her acceptance speech Clare Rewcastle Brown expressed honour and thanks for this recognition and support from the world’s oldest and most prestigious institute for international press freedom on behalf of her Sarawak Malaysian team of journalists and presenters and also on behalf of the station’s longhouse listeners.

“Malaysia is not used to a free media and we have provoked very aggressive reactions. Prominent politicians have accused us of sedition, filed police reports, accused us of poisoning the minds of the Dayak people of spreading lies, of acting as a virus and this has manifested itself in extraordinary cyber-attacks during this recent election and indeed jamming attacks as well and we find it telling that our small voice has provoked such an enormous and angry reaction in Malaysia, although it has also helped to enhance our status in many ways.  It has shown that reform is needed in the media and we will carry on our work in bringing an opportunity, a platform to some of the world’s most isolated and intimidated communities, living in the jungle far away from anyone and having that jungle cut away from under them, their rivers polluted, food becoming hard to find and really not knowing what is going on around them”.

Link: 

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2013/05/17779/?utm_source=Sarawak+Report&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ca3eb925c7-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_97635b3a5d-ca3eb925c7-208017985