Malaysia and Human Rights?

Setting the hounds on Nur Sajat while ignoring real criminals

YOURSAY | ‘Her case is a sad commentary of how religion is treated in M’sia.’

'I don't feel safe' - Sajat settles down in Australia

Vijay47: What poetic irony! Two issues surfaced at the same time and revealed how certain religious bodies and personalities demand so-called practice of faith.

One reflects sheer idiocy, seeing offence in anything they wish to see as offensive, and the other showing how merciless they can be in their application of religious norms.

Nur Sajat’s case is a sad commentary of how religion is treated in Malaysia, and almost every line in her statement is an expression of condemnation of the very body from which compassion is expected.

Can we imagine a Muslim saying that for dressing as a woman she “did not feel safe in her own country and had to flee to Australia” through Thailand? She received far more assistance from the Australian Embassy in Bangkok than she did from religious authorities here.

The cunning cruelty displayed by the Immigration Department is unbelievable. They voided her passport and then informed Thailand that she was there illegally.

kt comment: like the police, the Immigration has been more than enthusiastic in supporting the Mafulat-ish marauding mullahs

What did her choosing to dress as a woman, or of wanting to be a woman, have to do with her entitlement to a passport? How many passports have Immigration cancelled? Have the passports of all the 1MDB accomplices and assorted crooks facing countless charges been also cancelled?

Perhaps the most telling element in Nur Sajat’s statement were two additional letters. She said “If I am still a Muslim…” She did not say “I am still a Muslim…”.

Iphonezours: Malaysia, if we want to fight for human rights as we have just secured a seat at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), then we should start at home with our own citizens first.

Do not discriminate against women, transgenders, etc. If a Malaysian has to run away and seek safety in another country, there must be something not right in this country.

Optimus: Try to reconcile this with the government being so proud that the country is voted in for a seat in the UNHRC, and our foreign minister preaching to the world that Malaysia will continue to be a voice against human rights violations.

BobbyO: Only recently admitted to the UNHRC, already there are two nations that don’t trust our commitments to human rights.

What a disappointment for all the officers who worked hard behind the scenes to get this nation admitted into the UNHRC only to see their efforts wasted due to these zealots.

Not only were their efforts wasted, but the Thais and Australians would also warn their citizens from coming to this nation due to the mistreatment of minorities, especially the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community), by our authorities.

At the same time, the publicity that Nur Sajat will get through the global press will further dampen our tourist arrivals, especially from Australia.

To these zealots that have nothing to lose, as they are very well sponsored through the taxpayers’ monies, they should think about the effect it will have on our tourism industry.

As they say, you do not need enemies from outside to damage the reputation of a religion, the enemies within are enough to frighten people away.

Vgeorgemy: This is when we should take a deep bow to the people of Thailand for honouring the international covenants of protecting human rights by permitting Nur Sajat to go to her choice of residence.

JBond: Nur Sajat, bravo for standing up against the bullying authorities. Malaysia is not a place for you because it is a failed state where crooks and religious bigots thrive.

Your entrepreneurial skills are welcomed by countries that value human capital and respects human rights but not in a country that runs on racism, bigotry and corruption.

Anonymous080: God acts in mysterious ways. The authorities spent their resources - PDRM, Immigration, Maritime, Jakim, etc, but in the end, they ended up with an egg on their face.

How humiliating it is for their brand of justice. This is a slap on the face of Malaysian authorities and the government.

It’s better for them to spend time looking for Jho Low and his coterie of thieves, as well as Indira Gandhi’s ex-husband and her daughter who was forcibly converted.

Also, where are Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat?

Asitis: I rejoice that Nur Sajat is now safe in a country that accepts her for who she is and appreciates her for her capabilities, but I cry for Malaysia. Malaysia lost again. It loses another towering citizen to bigotry.

How many more will it lose before there are no more talented and capable people left in this country? All the best to Nur Sajat in her new country of residence.

Headhunter: Nur Sajat, put the past behind you and make a good life for yourself. You are a much stronger and better person than those who tried to persecute you.

FairMind: There is a saying that how we treat animals reflects on our humanity. In this case, these religious bigots in Malaysia have treated a human as an animal.

What can we say about the humanity of these religious bigots?

BlueLynx2013: And meanwhile, a bomoh was charged for raping a 23-year-old woman.

I find it strange that no one showed any interest in counselling him.

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Benar News:

Malaysia Extradites Thai Woman Wanted Over Anti-Monarchy Activities

2019-05-14

Malaysia extradited a woman wanted by Thailand for anti-monarchy activities after Bangkok requested her deportation, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Tuesday, but a leading human rights group said the move violated legal obligations because the deportee had sought asylum abroad.

Praphan Pipithnamporn, who was registered as an asylum seeker by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was sent back to Thailand on May 10 after Malaysian police arrested her last month on Bangkok’s request, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

“If there is a request, then we will send back,” Mahathir told a news conference. “(We are a) good neighbor.”

Mahathir lied (nothing surprising) because he refused to extradite Zakir Naik (above right) who was/is a wanted criminal fugitive by India, another good neighbour of Malaysia, whilst mercilessly extraditing Praphan Pipithnamporn (above left) back to Thailand which has draconian lèse-majesté law, against UNCHR advice

Praphan was sent home based on a January arrest warrant issued by Thai authorities, who accused her of sedition for alleged involvement with the Organization for Thai Federation, a peaceful anti-monarchy group, HRW said in a statement.

“Malaysia’s flouting of international law has placed a Thai activist at grave risk of arbitrary detention and an unjust prosecution in Thailand,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Malaysian authorities have an obligation to protect asylum seekers like Praphan from being forcibly returned to the risk of being persecuted for their peaceful political views,” he said.

Praphan’s deportation came on the same day that Thai authorities denied knowledge about the possible extradition from Vietnam of three critics of Thailand’s monarchy and military junta.

The Vietnamese government returned Thai citizens Chucheep Chivasut, Siam Theerawut and Kritsana Thapthai to Thailand on May 8, HRW and Amnesty International (AI) said in separate statements last Friday. The two groups based their information on reports from Thai media and a local NGO, the Thai Alliance for Human Rights.

‘Person of concern’

Prior to fleeing to Malaysia, Praphan was arrested several times between September and December 2018, and held in incommunicado military detention, HRW said.

The threats against her intensified after she participated in peaceful anti-monarchy activity during the birthday memorial for the late King Rama IX on Dec. 5, she claimed in an interview with HRW. On that day, she wore a black T-shirt with a logo of her group and handed out leaflets criticizing the monarchy in a Bangkok shopping mall, the rights group said.

Praphan fled to Malaysia in January, and applied for refugee status with UNHCR in Kuala Lumpur. On April 2, the refugee agency registered her claim as an asylum seeker and designated her a “person of concern,” HRW said.

The Socialist Party of Malaysia, an opposition party, meanwhile expressed concerns Tuesday over Praphan’s deportation. It slammed Mahathir’s government “for behaving like an accomplice of the Thai military junta in suppressing dissent and limiting democratic space.”

“Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad should realize that aiding an undemocratic regime in persecution of pro-democracy political activists, is not something a ‘good neighbor’ should do,” said Choo Chon Kai, the party’s international bureau coordinator.