Women’s groups condemn death threats on Syerleena

The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality wants the police to thoroughly investigate the threats made against Syerleena, and take the necessary action.

Seri Delima assemblyman Syerleena Abdul Rashid has lodged a police report over a Facebook poster which labelled her a traitor to Islam. (Bernama pic)

GEORGE TOWN: A coalition of women’s groups today condemned death threats against Seri Delima assemblyman Syerleena Abdul Rashid, and urged the authorities to carry out a thorough investigation.

The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) expressed its concern over the trend of heightening political violence which is often cloaked in religious discourse and manifesting in threats of physical violence, including murder and rape.

It noted that similar threats have been made in the past, notably against former Bersih 2.0 chair and current Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, G25 spokesman Noor Farida Ariffin as well as organisers and supporters of the Women’s March this year.

“In particular, individuals and groups have increasingly, and with seeming impunity, targeted women with rape threats over social media platforms.

“If not addressed, these threats affect not only the individuals targeted, they cast a chilling effect over the rest of society. Violence and threats of violence erode the very fundamentals of a functioning democracy, including freedom of belief and expression, right to bodily integrity, and civil discourse.“These threats have no place in a any society, what more at a time when Malaysia is rebuilding and strengthening its democratic institutions,” the group said in a statement today.

JAG further noted that the initial death threat against Syerleena was made based on a defamatory poster circulating on social media last year, and the second death threat was made upon her lodging a police report.

“These facts point to a need for early and urgent action on the part of the authorities to prevent an escalation of threats.

“JAG calls on the police to thoroughly investigate the threats made against Syerleena, and take the necessary action. The police must assess the effectiveness of their actions and strategies, given the history of similar threats that have rarely resulted in prosecutions.

“We also call on religious leaders to condemn threats of violence that use religion as justification,” it added.

On Saturday, Syerleena lodged a police report over a Facebook poster which labelled her a traitor to Islam and as such, causing her death would not be a sin.

This came after a death threat was found in her service centre mailbox on July 10.

Syerleena had also lodged another police report over Facebook posts claiming she would “attack Islamic institutions, especially Jakim, for the sake of DAP”.

She said this was an “old, slanderous” claim that had been making its rounds on social media again after it was used to smear her in the recent general election. -FMT