Two international rights watchdogs have reacted swiftly to the government’s three-month suspension of political organs of opposition parties PKR and PAS.

suara keadilan and harakah suspended Amnesty International (AI) and Reporters without Borders (RSF by its French acronym) took a dim view of the action against S uara Keadilan and Harakah with effect from March 23.

AI Asia-Pacific programme campaigner Vinod K Ravindranathan, in a statement today, urged the government and incoming premier Najib Abdul Razak not to criminalise freedom of expression.

The suspensions came just a day before Umno opened its 59th general assembly, during which Najib will take over as party president and eventually, inherited the mantle of prime minister.

"By suspending the two publications, the government is in effect taking a step towards silencing 37 percent of Malaysians who had voted for the opposition in the March 2008 general election,” said Vinod.

He said the suspension appears to be part of an ongoing government crackdown on perceived opponents ranging from bloggers, people attending political rallies, and opposition parliamentarians.

Vinod also referred to a number of recent incidents that have strengthened this perception.

Yesterday, six New Media organisations were denied accreditation to cover the ongoing five-day Umno general assembly. They are Malaysiakini, The NutGraph, Malaysian Insider, Siasah, Merdeka Review and Chinese website Laksou.

bukit selambau anwar ceramah police fru attack 240309 08 On March 23, police fired tear gas and chemical-laced water on those attending an opposition rally at Bukit Selambau. Thirty-one people were arrested but were released the next day.

Earlier this month, eight people were charged under the Multimedia and Communications Act 1998 for allegedly criticising the Sultan of Perak.

Opposition lawmaker and lawyer Karpal Singh has been charged with sedition over his threat to sue the Perak sultan

‘Pressure on the opposition’

RSF’s Asia-Pacific head Vincent Brossel noted in a separate statement that there is constant pressure on opposition publications.

“The restriction orchestrated by Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar constitutes electoral sabotage as well as flagrant press freedom violations. This is a manoeuvre that is clearly aimed at blunting criticism of the future prime minister’s personality and his abuse of authority,” he said.

anwar ibrahim 290408 Brossel said Barisan Nasional has adopted a no-holds barred approach in undermining the opposition coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim (right) .

“The opposition’s members are constantly subjected to violation of their privacy, physical threats and other forms of harassment, including the suspension of one of its parliamentarians (Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo from the Dewan Rakyat),” he said.

Brossel said PKR information chief Tian Chua has told RSF that the suspension was aimed at crushing the party’s means of alerting citizens to the nature of the government.

tian chua 03 240505 “We are in an extremely sensitive political context of government change and the coming by-elections (on April 7) are an enormous challenge. The war has begun and if Najib takes office, there is worse to come,” Chua is quoted as saying.

PAS secretary-general Kamaruddin Jaafar indicated to RSF that the party would appeal against the suspension.

kamaruddin jaafar kamaruddin jaffar “This is a violation of press freedom and a violation of the right of every political party to be able to freely publish its own newspaper,” Kamaruddin was quoted as saying.

Tens of thousands of copies of the two publications had been seized by the authorities last month.