Fadiah said she was still under investigation for a police report based on her remarks at a forum last July about the history of the Malayan Emergency.
“I was just questioned again regarding my comments at the same forum by two police officers. I am being investigated under Section 504 of the Penal Code, which basically says that I am trying to provoke a breach of public peace, and also under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.
“I exercised my right to keep silent, but I also answered some important questions,” Fadiah said today at human rights NGO Suaram’s office.
The lawyer-activist was previously questioned at the Klang district headquarters after a member of NGO Gerakan Muslimah Islam Malaysia filed a complaint about her speech at the July forum.
The GMIM member claimed Fadiah was “twisting the history of communism in Malaysia” and “supporting the LGBT society, secularism and others”.
Before that, Fadiah was questioned at the Brickfields police headquarters on July 11 over a column she published in a blog called Malaysia Muda.
The following day, she was once again called by the police over a vigil held in solidarity with her on July 12.
She said she was tired of the series of investigations which entailed “pure harassment and intimidation at the hands of the police.”
Fadiah asked the home ministry if it was promoting the culture of pressuring human rights defenders, adding that she was scared following the threats on social media.
However, she refused to be cowed and vowed to continue her fight.
Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Shamini Darshni, who was also at the same press conference, said the treatment meted out to Fadiah was worrying.
“The forum Fadiah spoke at was an academic discourse to discuss the Malaysian history, and such debates should be encouraged,” she said.
“That is what the freedom of expression is. It is a place for debate where the voices of agreement and disagreement meet.”
Shamini urged the authorities to stop harassing human rights activists.
Meanwhile, Suaram Project Coordinator Mohammad Alshatri said the organisation was working on a proposal to be submitted to the government to protect all human rights defenders.
He said the proposal was being drafted due to the current lack of a mechanism to protect human rights activists.