“Neither the OSI nor the NDI have been banned from funding activities in Malaysia,” the senior lawyer told reporters today after being questioned at the Bukit Aman police headquarters, referring to the Open Society Foundations and the National Democratic Institute.

Ambiga, who helmed electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 for three years from November 2010 to November 2013, was quizzed for an hour and half over funds it received from OSF, the foundation headed by US billionaire George Soros.

Last month, Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah said the group had only received a one-time funding of RM70,000 from OSF between 2010 and 2011.

Authorities have since questioned several NGO activists including three Bersih 2.0 steering committee members under Section 124C.

Ambiga said the allegations that NGOs who received foreign funds were involved in a plot against the government were nothing new.

She recalled a suit against the New Straits Times in 2012 after the paper accused Bersih 2.0 and several NGOs of receiving RM20 million to destablise the government.

“All the documents relating to the funds received by Bersih 2.0 were filed in court in that suit,” said Ambiga.

“The repeated accusation that there is a conspiracy of sorts to topple the government makes no sense when Bersih’s primary demand since its inception, has been for free and fair elections and for strong institutions.”

She added that the current clampdown on civil society would not deter them from carrying out their work.

“Our work will continue no matter the challenges. For we know that only a government afraid of the truth oppresses the people who seek it. And we also know that the truth will always prevail in the end.”