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Friday, January 7, 2011

As UMNO/BN struggle to remain in power, Malaysia inch towards a police state

Police state: A state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic, and political life of the people, especially by means of a secret police force.

UMNO/BN knows it has lost favor among a very significant portion of the Malaysian population because of past and present legal and illegal corruption, failed projects at hugely inflated costs, power abuses, corruption and destruction of institutions, etc. etc. but does it reform to regain favor?

Nope. It resorts to bullying and scare tactics, uses of the police, the MACC, the Atorney General to suppress objectors and activists. Witness how, for example, the Sarawak government arrests on native leaders below:

But let us hope the Malaysians and especially voters will not be cowed and work for a better future for all Malaysians.

Nervous Sarawak government cracks down on native leaders
LETTERS/SURAT

By Bruno Manser Fonds

We have just been informed on a crackdown by the Malaysian authorities against native leaders in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo. Less than six months ahead of the upcoming state elections, the Sarawak authorities are reportedly nervous due to a never-ending stream of evidence on corruption and land grabs by the ruling Barisan Nasional government under Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

According to Sarawak NGO sources, native lawyer Abun Sui Anyit was arrested last night at the Miri airport and detained at the Miri central police station for several hours. According to a police spokesperson, he had been detained "for political reasons" because he had carried a box of CDs with political contents. It has been learnt that the CDs had contained Radio Free Sarawak (www.radiofreesarawak.org) broadcasts and video clips by the alternative TV Sarawak Bebas. While the police first planned to charge him under the Malaysia Act, they later released him on bail without being charged.

In a related development, the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs (Kementerian Dalam Negeri - KDN) raided the Kuching office of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA), a well-respected advocacy organization for the concern of Ibans, Sarawak's main indigenous population. During the raid, a number of CDs, leaflets and two CD duplicators were confiscated by the police. Several staff and friends of SADIA, including secretary general Nicolas Mujah, were brought to the Satok police station where they were questioned until after 3 a.m. local time.

Your BMF team
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Here are links to some of the information sources the Sarawak government is fearing:

Video on Taib Mahmud: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMOXPesJYdQ

Video on native leader Baru Bian, challenger of Taib in the upcoming state election:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmEdNZjkti8&feature=related

Sarawak Report exposes on Taib corruption: www.sarawakreport.org

Daily news shows focussing on rural Sarawak interest: www.radiofreesarawak.org

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