The arrest of lawyer Eric Paulsen yesterday following his critical tweets towards the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) has driven Human Rights Watch to call the country a “human rights disaster zone”.
Deputy director of HRW’s Asia Division, Phil Robertson, said the Federal Government’s policy of “intolerance and intimidation” is putting Malaysians’ rights under threat.
“Malaysia is rapidly becoming a human rights disaster zone. It’s shocking the IGP (Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar) has little interest or commitment in stopping the ongoing plague of suspicious deaths in police custody but he has all the time in the world to stifle free speech and trumpet over twitter the arrest of a prominent human rights lawyer like Eric Paulsen within minutes after it happened,” The Malay Mail Online quotes him as stating in an e-mail released last night.
Paulsen, executive director of Lawyers for Liberty, was apprehended by 20 police officers last night, after he accused JAKIM of espousing extremism to Malaysia’s Muslims through the text of Friday sermons.
Paulsen was alreay scheduled to voluntarily appear for police questioning today.
On Friday, Paulsen tweeted, “Jakim is promoting extremism every Friday. Govt needs to address that if serious about extremism in Malaysia.”
That tweet is no longer visible on Paulsen’s Twitter account, but a follow-up tweet remains:
On Saturday, the IGP tweeted from his personal account this commentary, with accompanying image:
Photo: The Malaysian Insider
