More than a thousand individuals and 66 non-governmental organisations will put up a petition on freedom of expression to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ( below ) this Friday.

NONE The petition was a result of police reports lodged against Sisters in Islam (SIS) as a result of its press statement on the caning of three Muslim women in February, and The Star's managing editor P Gunasegaram for his article, ‘Persuasion not Compulsion', on the same subject.

Centre for Independent Journalism executive officer Masjaliza Hamzah said that the petition was also in response to recent investigations of activists and journalists under the Penal Code, the Sedition Act, the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984(PPPA) and the Syariah Offences Act.

"We want the prime minister to address the infringement of freedom of expression and comment, as well as repeal suppressive laws such ISA, Sedition Act and PPPA," she added.

The petition which will be mailed to the PM, was also signed by International Movement for a Just World (JUST) president Chandra Muzaffar and Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) founder Anwar Fazal.

marina mahathir Marina Mahathir ( left ), who sits on the board of directors of Sisters in Islam, said: "As a woman I feel helpless as laws are made for and on behalf of me without ever being asked.

"Yet when I protest and say that these laws make the lives of the women in Malaysia, especially Muslim women, miserable, I am told that I cannot say anything."

Marina wrote an article touching on the issues of caning and Syariah law for her ‘Musings' column in The Star, a major English earlier this month, but it was spiked .

Also present were Agenda Melayu Liberal's Jema Khan and documentary film maker, Ahmad Yazid.