Tough new security legislation yesterday went into force in Malaysia, with critics saying the “draconian” law threatens democracy and could be used against opponents of the scandal-tainted prime minister.
The National Security Council Act was pushed through the Malaysian Parliament in December last year by the government of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who for more than a year has faced calls to resign over a huge alleged corruption scandal.
The legislation gives the government power to declare virtual martial law in areas deemed to be under “security threat.”
Critics accuse Najib and his government of enacting the law, and other tough recent legislation, to ward off political and legal challenges.
“The law will definitely put fear in people planning to participate in street protests,” said Wan Saiful Wan Jan, head of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a Malaysian think tank.
“The public perception in terms of the timing of the draconian law is that Najib wants the law in order to stay in office,” he added.
The legislation allows the Malaysian National Security Council headed by the prime minister to essentially suspend civil liberties in designated “security areas,” giving security forces sweeping powers of search, seizure and arrest.
Najib has defended the law as necessary to combat terrorism, but its passage came amid the ongoing furor over allegations that billions of dollars were stolen from a state investment fund he founded and oversaw.
The corruption scandal swirling around Najib has spawned a cross-party alliance, including even members of his own ruling party, demanding he be removed and investigated.
Najib and investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) deny wrongdoing.
Amnesty International said the act “empowers the Malaysian authorities to trample over human rights and act with impunity.”
“There is good reason to fear that the act will be yet another tool in the hands of the government to crack down on peaceful protests under the guise of national security,” Amnesty International deputy director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Josef Benedict said in a statement.
Authorities in several countries are investigating allegations that the national investment fund was looted over several years.
Najib has stifled domestic pressure by cracking down on critics within his ruling party, scuttling domestic probes and arresting whistle-blowers and journalists.
A UN human rights agency and other rights organizations have pilloried the act as a potentially frightening step backward.
“We are gravely concerned that ... the act may encourage human rights violations,” UN Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia acting head Laurent Meillan said in a statement last week.
Last month, the US Department of Justice launched a move to seize more than US$1 billion in assets, which it said were purchased with money stolen from 1MDB, including by a person identified only as “Malaysian Official 1” — a reference to Najib, according to media reports.
The US move has heightened expectations of further anti-Najib protests in Malaysia, but there are concerns the security law could be used to prevent them.
In August last year, tens of thousands of people paralyzed the capital, Kuala Lumpur, demanding that he stand down.
Najib’s ruling party has tightly controlled Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957, but increasingly faces accusations of corruption and repression.
Najib came into office in 2009 pledging an end to ruling-party graft and authoritarianism, but he has dramatically reversed course following a 2013 election setback and the 1MDB scandal.
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