The Home Ministry has been blasted for wielding the Societies Act 1966 to silence the NGO Sarawak Association for People’s Aspiration (Sapa) as their cause is "perfectly legitimate".

"What activities of Sapa have been detrimental to security and public order in the country?

"Was it because they carried out the campaign to review the position of Sarawak in Malaysia or because they have collected 20,000 signatures for the petition to the United Nations on the right to self-determination of the Sarawak people?" asked Human Rights NGO Suaram.

Suaram pointed out that in a democracy, expression and campaigns for the right to self-determination is "perfectly legitimate and will not be penalised".

"The recent referendum on the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom is one good example.

"No one was penalised for advocating the independence of Scotland and the people were free to debate and vote on the issue," Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng ( right ) said in a statement today.

 

Yap said the ministry's use of the Societies Act to shut down civil society groups like Sapa was "arbitrary and authoritarian in nature", and constitutes abuse of the Act.

Sapa, registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS) in November 2013, was surprised to learn from news reports that it has been deregistered .

The news that Sapa has been “declared illegal” did not come to it from the ROS. Instead, the NGO found this out from media reports.

“Sapa only received the official notification letter from the Home Ministry on Nov 20,” Yap adding that Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should provide Sapa the right to reply to the allegations levelled against it before making the decision to deregister it.

Sapa's president, Lina Soo ( left ), had accused Zahid of acting arbitrarily and undemocratically in signing the order to de-register the society and will be suing him after consulting the Sapa lawyers.

“No reason was given. No show-cause letter had been given to us. Really, we are shocked by the minister’s action,” Soo said when contacted yesterday.

It is believed that the 'people's petition', which calls for the review of Sarawak in Malaysia and asserts the people's right to self-determination, which Sapa plans to submit to the UN, is the root cause for its deregistration.

Together with Sabah-based NGO United Borneo Front (UBF), Sapa expects to collect at least 300,000 signatures from the people of Sabah and Sarawak within the next six months.