Background

Najib Tun Razak became Prime Minister in April. Political tensions increased in Perak state, located north of the capital Kuala Lumpur and formerly controlled by the opposition People’s Alliance (PA), following three defections from the party. After a meeting with the Prime Minister, the Sultan of Perak ordered the PA Chief Minister to resign in February.

During a state assembly session in May, when the National Front government representative Zambry Abdul Kadir was expected to be appointed as the new Chief Minister, the opposition Speaker V. Sivakumar was forcibly removed by police officers. Dozens of short-term arrests were made before and after the assembly session.

Freedom of expression

Freedom of expression was severely curtailed, with the authorities using various laws, including the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA 1998), to crush critical opinion.

Independent news portal Malaysiakini reported on and posted two videos of a protest held in August by Muslims against the relocation of a Hindu temple totheir neighbourhood. The government’s internet regulatory agency ordered Malaysiakini to remove the videos, threatening to prosecute them under the CMA 1998, alleging offensive content. Charges against them remained pending.

Following a nationwide crackdown on bloggers in March, eight bloggers faced imprisonment and fines after being charged under the CMA 1998 for posting critical comments against the Sultan of Perak over the Perak political crisis. An opposition parliamentarian,Karpal Singh, was charged under the Sedition Act for threatening to sue the Sultan, claiming that the Sultan breached the State’s constitution. One blogger pleaded guilty with the remaining cases still pending. All were freed on bail.

Mohamad Asri Zainul Abidin, a religious leader, was charged in November under the Selangor Islamic Administration Enactment for conducting a religious discourse without government authorization. His trial remained pending while he was freed on bail. If convicted, he faces two years’ imprisonment and/or fines of up to 3,000 Malaysia Ringgit (US$873).

In October, several police reports were lodged against Sisters in Islam, a women’s rights organization,after they criticized caning as a punishment for Muslims. At least two of their leaders were questioned by police under the Sedition Act.

Arbitrary arrests and detentions

The authorities arrested hundreds of peaceful demonstrators, detaining them for up to 24 hours, in an attempt to stifle dissent. Five prisoners of conscience – leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) – were released. Ten other ISA detainees were also released. Nine people reportedly remained in detention under the ISA.

Wong Chin Huat was arrested in May under the Sedition Act after calling for a protest against the government over the Perak crisis. That same month,Mohamad Sabu, the Vice-President of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), and at least 14 others, were arrested for participating in or planning protests over the Perak crisis. Five lawyers representing the latter 14 were also arrested. They were all released after being held overnight.

In August, almost 600 people were briefly arrested following an anti-ISA rally. Sixty-three were held overnight, including PA Vice-President Sivarasa Rasiah.

In September, 16 members of HINDRAF, including former ISA detainee P. Uthayakumar, were briefly detained while attempting to hold a candlelight vigil in Kuala Lumpur.

Deaths in custody

Extensive signs of torture were discovered on the body of Kugan Ananthan, who died in police custody in January. In October, one police officer was charged with causing him grievous bodily harm.

In July, Teoh Beng Hock, political secretary to an opposition leader, died after falling from an upper floor of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Selangor headquarters. The previous evening, the police had taken him for questioning as a witness in an investigation into the abuse of state funds by the opposition state government. An inquest into the death was ongoing.

Violence against women and girls

Reports of sexual abuse, including rape, by timber company workers against Penan women and girls in Baram village, Sarawak state, formed the basis of a report published in September by a government task force investigating the issue. The report confirmed that women and girls as young as 10 had been raped by timber company employees. However, state officials denied the involvement of company employees in the rapes and police dropped further investigations.

Cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment

People continued to be caned for various offences.In June, the government announced that since 2002 they had sentenced 47,914 migrants to be caned for immigration offences, with 34,923 canings already carried out by 2008.

In July, the Shariah High Court in Pahang state sentenced Kartika Dewi to six strokes of the cane and a fine for consuming alcohol. In September, Nazarudin Kamaruddin was sentenced to six strokes of the cane and one year’s imprisonment for drinking alcohol.Mohamad Shahrin and Nadiah Hussin were sentenced by the Selangor state Islamic court to six strokes of the cane for trying to have premarital sex. All were Muslim.

Refugees and migrants

Migrants, including asylum-seekers and refugees,were often arrested and detained for long periods.The government made no distinction between migrant workers, asylum-seekers and refugees. UNCHR, the UN refugee agency, had registered 49,000 people of concern as of May. Eighty-nine per cent were from Myanmar. An estimated 45,000 asylum-seekers remained unregistered.

Conditions in detention centres remained far below international standards. Reports of insufficient food,poor nutrition, poor sanitation and physical abuse persisted.

In May, two inmates from Myanmar died from leptospirosis, a bacterial infection caused by contact with water contaminated by animal urine, at the Juru Immigration Depot. In August, a detainee at the KLIA Immigration Depot died after contracting the H1N1 flu virus. Other inmates were hospitalized in both instances.

Death penalty

At least 68 people were sentenced to death by the High Courts while the number of executions was unknown. Malaysia did not support UN UPR recommendations to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty or abolish it. It also did not disclose the number of executions carried out.

In Asia, thousands of executions were likely to have taken place in China, where information on the death penalty remains a state secret. Only seven other countries were known to have carried out executions – Bangladesh, Japan, North Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam – with 26 executions known to have taken place.

At least 819 death sentences were known to have been imposed: Afghanistan (at least 133),Bangladesh (at least 64), China (+), India (at least 50), Indonesia (1), Japan (34), North Korea (+), South Korea (at least 5), Malaysia (at least 68), Myanmar (at least 2), Pakistan (276), Singapore (at least 6), Sri Lanka (108), Taiwan (7), Thailand (+), Viet Nam (at least 59) China again refused to divulge exact figures on its use of the death penalty.

This document summarizes Amnesty International’s global research on the use of the death penalty in 2009. Information was gathered from various sources including official statistics (where available), non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations, human rights defenders, the media and field research.

Kindly click on the link below to read the full report.  

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ACT50/001/2010/en

The Court of Appeal reserved judgement today in the case of convicted Malaysian teenage offender Yong Vui Kong, who has challenged the constitutionality of the mandatory death sentence he received.Please visit the link below to read further.

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/03/judges-reserve-judgement-in-yongs-mandatory-death-penalty-appeal/

Additional Info

Yong Vui Kong was arrested in June 2007, when he was 19, by officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau. He was charged with trafficking 42.27 grams of heroin, and then sentenced to death in January 2009.

Yong was convicted under the Misuse of Drugs Act, which provides that anyone found guilty of illegally importing, exporting or trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin will automatically receive a mandatory death sentence.

On December 8,The Court of Appeal granted Yong Vui Kong an extension of time to have his appeal heard.Yong, who was originally scheduled to be hanged on 11 th of December 2009.

Yong Vui Kong’s lawyer has appealed on the grounds that the mandatory death sentence for drug-trafficking, which is set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act, is unconstitutional, and therefore his case should be referred back to the trial judge for “reconsideration.”

On December 14, 2009, 17 year-old Palestinian student Hamdi al-Ta’mari was released from prison after nearly one year. He is now at home with his family. The Israeli military had held Hamdi al-Ta’mari without charge from July to November 2008 and again since December 2008.

At the time of his first arrest, Hamdi was not yet 16 years old. He was beaten, kicked and asked about his alleged membership of a Palestinian militant organization, Islamic Jihad, which Hamdi has denied.

After his second arrest he was brought before a military judge without the presence of a lawyer or family members, and issued with a four-month ‘administrative detention order’, which was twice renewed.

 Such detention orders can be prolonged indefinitely without charge or trial, and violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Hamdi al-Ta’mari’s case was featured in Amnesty International’s Write for Rights global letter-writing marathon in December 2009. Amnesty supporters from around the world wrote letters of support and encouragement to Hamdi.

 Hamdi al-Ta’mari has passed on this message to Amnesty supporters: “I received one letter from Amnesty International members, at the beginning, that was the first one. Later the guards refused to pass on the letters to me, they just asked, ‘Where are you getting all these letters from?’

“That way I knew I had many letters and that people knew about me, which made the guards pay attention. I wish I could receive those letters now. When I was released, the guard said ‘You will just be out for a couple of weeks, then you’ll be back’ – maybe he was just kidding.”

 Hamdi plans to resume his studies and apply for the Palestinian secondary school final exams.

Then he hopes to study at university and travel abroad. His whole family is rejoicing and he has been seeing his friends, who organized a party for him.

Dear Friends

Update: We just received the news from the Think Centre,Singapore that the execution of of M’sian teenage offender Yong Vui Kong that were scheduled for the 11 of December is now postponed.

The Court of Appeal today grants Yong Vui Kong an extension of time to have his appeal heard. After hearing arguments from both sides, the three judges agreed with his lawyer, Mr M Ravi, that Yong had a right to have his appeal considered by the courts. When this will take place is yet to be decided. It is believed that it will take place in about 2 months.

In the meantime, Yong, who was originally scheduled to be hanged last Friday, will not face execution until after the Court of Appeal has heard

his appeal.

Amnesty International would like to thank everyone who sent appeals for Yong’s Clemency and who worked on this case.We will update everyone on the progress of Vong’s Appeal and further action accordingly.

Please share this news among your friends and network

Yong Vui Kong received a stay of execution on 3 December, but is now scheduled for execution on 11 December. His appeal will be heard by the Court of Appeals on 8 December.

Yong Vui Kong’s lawyer has appealed on the grounds that the mandatory death sentence for drug-trafficking, which is set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act, is unconstitutional, and therefore his case should be referred back to the trial judge for “reconsideration.”

The appeal was due to be heard by a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeals on 2 December, but only one judge was present, so the court had to grant a stay of execution. The court, which rejected an earlier appeal against Yong Vui Kong’s death sentence, is now due to hear his latest appeal on 8 December.

The President of Singapore rejected Yong Vui Kong’s petition for clemency on 1 December.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, Mandarin or your own language:

• Urging the president to reconsider Yong Vui Kong’s clemency petition and commute his death sentence;
• Expressing concern that because the death penalty is mandatory for drug-trafficking offences, the court that sentenced Yong Vui Kong to death had no discretion to sentence him to an alternative punishment;
• Calling on the president to introduce a moratorium on executions, with a view to complete abolition of the death penalty.

 PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 11 DECEMBER 2009 TO:

President

His Excellency SR Nathan
Office of the President
Istana, Orchard Road
Singapore 0922Fax: +65 6735 3135
Email: s_r_nathan@istana.gov.sg

Salutation: Your Excellency 
 
 And copies to:

Newspaper

Editor-in-Chief
The Straits Times
1000 Toa Payoh North
News Centre,
Singapore 318994Fax: +65 6319 8282
Email: : stonline@sph.com.sg

Or

H.E. T Jasudasen High Commissioner
HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE
209, Jalan Tun Razak 50400 Kuala Lumpur
E- mail : singhc_kul@sgmfa.gov.my
Fax : 603-2161 6343/2163 4875

 Additional Information

The authorities in Singapore do not release any information about the use of the death penalty in the country. At least one person is known to have been hanged so far in 2009, and at least three sentenced to death; in 2008, at least one person was hanged and five sentenced to death. The true figures are likely to be higher. The government has always maintained that the death penalty is not a human rights issue, and consistently lobbied other nations against the abolition of the death penalty. 

All capital cases are tried by the High Court; convicted prisoners can appeal, and if they are unsuccessful they can apply to the president for clemency. President Nathan, who has been in power since 1999, is not known to have granted clemency to any condemned prisoner.

Yong Vui Kong was arrested in June 2007, when he was 19, by officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau. He was charged with trafficking 42.27 grams of heroin, and then sentenced to death in January 2009.

He had been working as a messenger for a man in Malaysia who often asked him to collect money from debtors or deliver packages as “gifts” to people in Singapore and Malaysia. At his trial, Yong Vui Kong said he had not known what was in the packages, and when he asked, he had simply been told not to open them. The judge, however, ruled that Yong must have been aware of their contents, saying in his written summation, “I found that the accused had failed to rebut the presumption against him. I am of the view that the prosecution had proved its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt, and I therefore found the accused guilty as charged and sentenced him to suffer death.”

Yong was convicted under the Misuse of Drugs Act, which provides that anyone found guilty of illegally importing, exporting or trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin will automatically receive a mandatory death sentence.

Governments need to address crimes, including drug trafficking, but there is no clear evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other forms of punishment. The UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions stated in his 2005 report that the “mandatory death penalty, which precludes the possibility of a lesser sentence being imposed regardless of the circumstances, is inconsistent with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” To date, 139 countries have abolished death penalty in law or practice.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, Mandarin or your own language:

* Urging the president to grant clemency to Yong Vui Kong and commute his death sentence;

* Expressing concern that because the death penalty is mandatory for drug-trafficking cases, the court had no discretion to sentence Yong Vui Kong to an alternative punishment;

* Calling on the president to introduce a moratorium on executions, with a view to complete abolition of the death penalty.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS TO:

President
His Excellency SR Nathan
Office of the President
Istana, Orchard Road
Singapore 0922
Fax: +65 6735 3135
Email: s_r_nathan@istana.gov.sg

Salutation: Your Excellency

OR

H.E. T Jasudasen High Commissioner
HIGH COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE
209, Jalan Tun Razak 50400 Kuala Lumpur
E- mail : singhc_kul@sgmfa.gov.my
Fax : 603-2161 6343/2163 4875

And copies to:

Newspaper
Editor-in-Chief
The Straits Times
1000 Toa Payoh North
News Centre,
Singapore 318994
Fax: +65 6319 8282
Email: stonline@sph.com.sg

Additional Information

The authorities in Singapore do not release any information about the use of the death penalty in the country. At least one person is known to have been hanged so far in 2009, and at least three sentenced to death; in 2008, at least one person was hanged and five sentenced to death. The true figures are likely to be higher. The government has always maintained that the death penalty is not a human rights issue, and consistently lobbied other nations against the abolition of the death penalty.

All capital cases are tried by the High Court; convicted prisoners can appeal, and if they are unsuccessful they can apply to the president for clemency. President Nathan, who has been in power since 1999, is not known to have granted clemency to any condemned prisoner.

On 3 September 2009, it was reported that a Burmese detainee at KLIA Immigration Detention Centre died on 29 August 2009 due to an unknown illness and six other detainees with similar symptoms were hospitalised at Putrajaya General Hospital[1]. Today, 25 September 2009, it was reported that six Burmese detainees have died at an undisclosed detention centre allegedly due to Leptospirosis[2]. Leptospirosis is an infectious disease that occurs due to water or food contaminated by animal urine.

Last month, it was reported that a Togolese detainee died in the same detention centre due to Influenza A(H1N1)[3]. In May this year, two Burmese asylum seekers died at Juru Immigration Detention Centre also due to Leptospirosis, an infectious disease that occurs due to contaminated water or food. In April, it was reported that deaths of two detainees occurred at Lenggeng Immigration Detention Centre, where a Bangladeshi migrant worker died days after being tortured by the Malaysian police and another Liberian was found dead with an unrevealed cause of death[4].

We, the undersigned organisations, are deeply disturbed that more deaths have occurred in immigration detention centres and concrete actions to prevent such events have yet to be taken. We have repeatedly highlighted the dire conditions in detention centres such as overcrowding, poor sanitation, insufficient provision of food and water, and inadequate access to necessary medical and health services (including emergency care, treatment for infectious diseases and maternal health services). How many more detainees must be deprived of their right to life before the Malaysian Government will make the necessary changes to improve the conditions in detention centres?

Following the outbreak of Leptospirosis at Juru Immigration Detention Centre, the Ministry of Health’s actions in containing the outbreak was commendable. However, the Ministry should have seized the opportunity to play a more proactive role in cooperating with the Immigration Department to monitor conditions in all detention centres, to ensure that adequate sanitary and hygiene standards are maintained and to develop proper medical and health services. The recent six deaths prove yet again that conditions in detention centres are in a dire state and urgently need to be addressed.

Deaths in custody cannot to be taken lightly. The Government, especially the Immigration Department and the Ministry of Health, must account for the deaths.

As such, we call for the following:

1. The Magistrate to conduct an inquest into the death of the Burmese detainee who died on 29 August 2009, the six Burmese detainees and all other deaths in immigration detention centres.

2. The Immigration Department and the Ministry of Health to immediately make public the results of the post-mortem of all the deceased and to take immediate precautionary steps to prevent the disease from spreading to other detainees if it is infectious.

3. The Ministry of Health to monitor all immigration detention centres nationwide and to cooperate closely with the Immigration Department to establish access to health care services including prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.

4. The Ministry of Health to set up permanent clinics at immigration detention centres. The clinics should be equipped with a full time medical doctor and male and female medical assistants and with adequate facilities to be able to address first line treatment needs of detainees and make referrals for medical emergencies and second line treatment.

5. The Ministry of Health include foreign workers and refugees in health prevention program by developing health education materials and information outreach programs in their respective languages, especially with regard to H1N1 and dengue which are currently health concerns in the country.

6. The monitoring of immigration detention centres be included in the Ministry of Health’s efforts to address H1N1.

7. The Government to immediately stop arrests and detention of refugees and asylum seekers and to release all detained refugees and asylum seekers. The Government should adopt laws and regulations for the recognition and protection of refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons.

8. A Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate and review practices and policies relating immigration detention especially deaths, conditions of detention centres, detention period, treatment of detainees, the role of RELA, and unnecessary detention of irregular migrants, especially children, pregnant women, the physically and mentally ill, and other vulnerable migrants.

Endorsed by the following members of the Migration Working Group and the Northern Network for Migrants and Refugees (Jaringan Utara Migrasi dan Pelarian, JUMP):

A Call to Service (ACTS)
Amnesty International Malaysia (AIM)
Health Equity Initiatives (HEI)
Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese of Human Development (AOHD)
Malaysia Bar Council Human Rights Committee
Malaysian Care
Malaysian Social Research Institute (MSRI)
Micah Mandate
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM)
Penang Office for Human Development (POHD)
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
Tenaganita
The National Human Rights Society (HAKAM)
Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO)

The detainees’ families were told in May that they were now facing the additional charge of mofsed fil arz (being corrupt on earth), which can carry the death penalty, and that a new date for their trial has been set. They are scheduled to appear on 11 July before Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran where they are likely to be charged with mofsed fil arz, as well as “espionage for Israel”, “insulting religious sanctities” and “propaganda against the system.” Their lawyers have never been able to visit them since their arrest, though they have been allowed family visits.

The seven are members of a group responsible for the Baha’i community’s religious and administrative affairs in Iran. They are held in Section 209 of Evin Prison, which is run by the Ministry of Intelligence. Six of the group’s leaders – Fariba Kamalabadi Taefi, Jamaloddin Khanjani, Afif Naeimi, Saeid Rezaie, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Vahid Tizfahm – were arrested following raids on their homes by officers from the Ministry of Intelligence on 14 May 2008. A seventh person, acting as a secretary for the group, Mahvash Sabet, had been arrested on 5 March 2008. Fariba Kamalabadi Taefi, Behrouz Tavakkoli and Jamaloddin Khanjani had previously been arrested for their activities on behalf of the Baha’i community. The Baha’i faith is not recognized under the Iranian Constitution.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Persian, Arabic, English or your own language:

* calling on the Iranian authorities to release the seven members of the Baha’i minority (naming them) whom Amnesty International considers to be prisoners of conscience held because of their beliefs or peaceful activities on behalf of the Baha’i community;
* calling on them to drop the charges against the seven, which Amnesty International consider as politically motivated;
* expressing concern that if convicted of the charges they are said to be facing the seven could be sentenced to death;
* calling on the authorities to ensure that the seven are protected from torture and other ill-treatment;
* urging the authorities to ensure that the seven are given regular access to their families, lawyers of their choice and any medical treatment they may require.

SEND APPEALS BY WAY OF FAX, EMAIL OR POST/DELIVER A HAND WRITTEN LETTER TO: YOU CAN EVEN CALL THE EMBASSY AND RAISE YOUR CONCERNS DIRECTLY:

Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street
End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:info_leader@leader.ir
via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Or

Head of the Judiciary
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran 1316814737 Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:   shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir
Salutation: Your Excellency

or

Iranian Embassy in Malaysia
H.E. Mahdi Khandaghabadi
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
EMBASSY OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
No.1 Lorong U Thant Satu Off Jalan U-Thant 55000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-4251 4824/4251 4830/4256 2904
Email: ir_emb@tm.net.my
Fax: 603-4256 2904

Mohammad Mostafaei was arrested in Tehran on 25 June by plainclothes officials, while he was away from his home with his wife and daughter. The officials searched the family home and Mohammad Mostafaei’s office, and then took him away. His whereabouts remain unknown since his arrest.

Mohammad Mostafaei is a human rights lawyer who is best known for his campaigning against the execution in Iran of people convicted of crimes committed when they were under the age of 18. He is representing at least 25 juveniles sentenced to death for such crimes.

Take Action by

* calling on the authorities to release Mohammad Mostafaei immediately and unconditionally, if he has been arrested solely for his human rights activities and the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association, and is therefore a prisoner of conscience;
* urging them to allow him immediate access to his family, a lawyer of his choice and any medical treatment he may require, and ensure that he is protected from all forms of torture or other ill-treatment;
* calling on the authorities to allow peaceful demonstrations by those who wish to express their opinions on the elections to take place.

SEND APPEALS BY WAY OF FAX, EMAIL OR POST/DELIVER A HAND WRITTEN LETTER TO: YOU CAN EVEN CALL THE EMBASSY AND RAISE YOUR CONCERNS DIRECTLY TO:

Head of the Judiciary

Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh (Office of the Head of the Judiciary)
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., south of Serah-e Jomhouri, Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:   shahroudi@dadgostary-tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)
Salutation:  Your Excellency

Or

Governorate of West Azarbaijan Province
Dr Rahim Qorbani
Governor of West Azarbaijan Province
Email:  info@ostan-ag.gov.ir
Salutation:  Dear Governor

Or
Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:   info_leader@leader.ir
via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
http://www.leader.ir/langs/fa/index.php?p=letter (Persian)
Salutation:   Your Excellency

Or

Iranian Embassy in Malaysia
H.E. Mahdi Khandaghabadi
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
EMBASSY OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
No.1 Lorong U Thant Satu Off Jalan U-Thant 55000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-4251 4824/4251 4830/4256 2904
Email: ir_emb@tm.net.my
Fax: 603-4256 2904

ADditional Information

Since the announcement on 13 June that President Ahmadinejad had won the previous day’s presidential election, which hundreds of thousands of Iranians dispute, the Iranian authorities have imposed draconian restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly. Access to the internet has been blocked or significantly interrupted. Iranian publications have been banned from publishing information about the nationwide unrest since the result was declared. Foreign journalists have been banned from the streets, and some foreign reporters have been expelled from the country.

Scores of people are reported to have been arrested across the country, including prominent political figures close to either Mir Hossein Mousavi, fellow presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi or former President Khatami, who supported Mir Hossein Mousavi’s campaign. Some human rights defenders, as well as journalists who are also members of political parties or who campaigned on behalf of opposition presidential candidates, have also been detained. On 16 June lawyer and human rights defender Abdolfattah Soltani, was also arrested and detained.http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/059/2009/en).

On 24 June, 70 academics met leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and were arrested as they left his office. All but four were later released. Those still detained include the head of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s election campaign, Dr Ghorban Behzadian. Hundreds of others have been arrested during demonstrations against the outcome of the election which have been met with excessive use of force. Many have been beaten and, according to the authorities, up to 21 have been killed, although the true number is likely to be higher.