Tenaganita executive director Irene Fernandez today turned the tables by saying that it is the government who is "immoral" for threatening human rights defenders like her with the law.
Responding to Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who called her an "immoral" activist for allegedly smearing the country's reputation, she said the government was in fact distracting from the issue of migrant workers rights.
"Intimidating and refusing to accept criticism in a good manner is immoral. If anyone, it is (Muhyiddin) and the government who are immoral," she said.
She added that instead of going after her, the authorities should "do their job" in investigating the numerous police reports lodged by Tenaganita and migrant workers over alleged abuse.
Last week, Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department chief Ku Chin Wah said Fernandez may be probed for sedition for her statements to the international media on migrant workers in Malaysia.
Responding to Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who called her an "immoral" activist for allegedly smearing the country's reputation, she said the government was in fact distracting from the issue of migrant workers rights.
"Intimidating and refusing to accept criticism in a good manner is immoral. If anyone, it is (Muhyiddin) and the government who are immoral," she said.She added that instead of going after her, the authorities should "do their job" in investigating the numerous police reports lodged by Tenaganita and migrant workers over alleged abuse.
Last week, Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department chief Ku Chin Wah said Fernandez may be probed for sedition for her statements to the international media on migrant workers in Malaysia.
According to Fernandez, Tenaganita had filed more than 15 police reports this year, and knows of at least 10 others lodged by the migrants on their own initiative in the Klang Valley.
She said these cases involve the withholding of travel documents by employers, physical and sexual abuse.
“The speediness is not there to investigate (compared to the case against me).
“This raises a lot of questions in the primary role of the police force in ensuring law and order is maintained and rights are protected,” she said.
Fernandez (left) added that the matters she raised in the media have been highlighted by Tenaganita multiple times in “high level consultations” with the government for the past two decades, including during a meeting last month.
However, instead of acting on this feedback the government has chosen to “go after whistleblowers”.
She said these cases involve the withholding of travel documents by employers, physical and sexual abuse.
“The speediness is not there to investigate (compared to the case against me).
“This raises a lot of questions in the primary role of the police force in ensuring law and order is maintained and rights are protected,” she said.
Fernandez (left) added that the matters she raised in the media have been highlighted by Tenaganita multiple times in “high level consultations” with the government for the past two decades, including during a meeting last month.However, instead of acting on this feedback the government has chosen to “go after whistleblowers”.
A “shameful” thing for a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council to do.
“This is what it means by ‘memalukan negara’ (embarrassing the nation). Malaysia made (its) way up to be given a seat on the Human Rights Council, where you should uphold the rights of people.
“But you sit there and silence those who voice out the rights of others. This is the contradiction of this government,” she said.
Echoing Fernandez, Anti-Human Trafficking Selangor Council member Abdul Aziz Kamal said that he has lodged 30 police reports on trafficking of migrant workers this year but to no avail.
“I have been in touch with the disciplinary officer in Bukit Aman who now tells me that the investigating officers for the cases cannot be located,” he said.
“This is what it means by ‘memalukan negara’ (embarrassing the nation). Malaysia made (its) way up to be given a seat on the Human Rights Council, where you should uphold the rights of people.
“But you sit there and silence those who voice out the rights of others. This is the contradiction of this government,” she said.
Echoing Fernandez, Anti-Human Trafficking Selangor Council member Abdul Aziz Kamal said that he has lodged 30 police reports on trafficking of migrant workers this year but to no avail.
“I have been in touch with the disciplinary officer in Bukit Aman who now tells me that the investigating officers for the cases cannot be located,” he said.
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