“Police should also update the public on the investigation against Mohd Ali Baharom aka Ali Tinju for criminal intimidation,” it added in a statement.
The JAG said it “stands in solidarity with Maria Chin Abdullah”, the chairperson of Bersih 2.0, “and denounces in the strongest terms the death threats against her”.
The statement noted that Ali Tinju allegedly said to a Free Malaysia Today reporter, among other things, that Maria may “no longer walk on this earth” and that there would be an “ambush”.
“He later claimed to have been misquoted, but a recording and transcript by FMT appear to prove otherwise,” said JAG.
The phrases uttered by Ali Tinju, including “don’t challenge us or we will make it so that her legs point upwards and her head points downward to the ground” (“Jangan cabar kami nanti kami akan buatkan kaki dia ke atas, kepala ke bawah jalan”), are direct and clear threats of violence against Maria, charged the NGO.
It noted this was not the first time Ali Tinju had made public threats of violence.
In 2015, he urged a gathering at Low Yat Plaza to “attack the DAP Chinese who are rude”.
JAG was expressing grave concern that threats of violence were being tolerated to suppress dissent.
“Threats are now commonplace as a response to disagreements, and especially against women,” it said.
“These threats also appear to be tolerated by those in a position to protect and promote human rights and equality for all.”
The statement recalled multiple instances of other violent threats against those exercising fundamental rights, with women being targeted for sexual violence.
Prior to the Bersih 4 rally in 2015, extremists warned the Chinese against joining the rally and threatened to spill blood.
In the same year, journalist Aisyah Tajuddin faced rape and death threats for commenting on a proposed hudud bill in Kelantan.
A man threatened, in a Facebook comment, to sexually assault activist Noor Farida Ariffin.
In none of these cases was there meaningful redress for the people targeted, lamented JAG.