The international human rights organisation published a statement on its website yesterday severely criticising Putrajaya for its latest attempt to silence government critics, saying the government must respect and protect the right to freedom of expression.
This comes after popular political cartoonist Zunar was barred from travelling overseas on Monday.
Zunar, whose real name is Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, was trying to board a flight to Singapore when he was stopped by immigration authorities, who informed him that the order came directly from the Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.
“Travel bans are a pernicious way to also hamper the work of human rights defenders and other government critics.
“Malaysian authorities must respect and protect the right to freedom of expression, including by removing travel restrictions which are unconstitutional, violate internationally recognised human rights, and imposed without due process,” Amnesty said.
The international human rights body also raised the difficulties faced by those who have been banned from travelling overseas, having to challenge the government order.
“To make the situation worse, even challenging these bans in Malaysian courts can be a tedious, cumbersome exercise that drains financial and other resources.”
Amnesty also praised Zunar for remaining an outspoken critic of the Malaysian government, both at home and overseas, despite facing nine sedition charges since last year.
“Zunar has continued to use his cartoons to highlight/draw attention to allegations of corruption and the abuse of power in the country,” Amnesty said of the cartoonist, who has won international awards for his work.
On that note, Amnesty called for the government and Malaysian authorities to drop all charges against Zunar and others facing prosecution for their peaceful political activities.
“The Malaysian government must also take immediate steps to repeal restrictive laws such as the Sedition Act, Peaceful Assembly Act, Film Censorship Act and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 or amend these laws thoroughly so as to bring them into compliance with international human rights law and standards.”
Zunar is the latest government critic to be barred from travelling overseas. Over the past two years various activists and politicians have found themselves on the immigration blacklist, including Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah, Hishammuddin Rais and Tony Pua, who only was informed recently that his ban had been rescinded.
RELATED STORIES: