Arutchelvan, student activist hauled up by police

PSM sec-gen Arutchelvan and Mohd Khalid are being investigated under the Sedition Act for speeches made at an ABU ceramah on Jan 23. KAJANG: PSM secretary general S Arutchelvan and second year UiTM law student cum activist Mohd Khalid Ismath were called up by the police and questioned for about 40 minutes today over speeches…

Hamza Kashgari : Anda Memilih Kami atau Darah Anda Halal Bagi Kami!

Sewaktu artikel ini ditulis, saya tidak pasti apakah nasib Hamza Kashgari. Sudah lebih dua minggu beliau dihantar pulang (dideportasi) secara tidak sah ke Arab Saudi oleh kerajaan Malaysia. Penghantaran pulang secara tergesa-gesa dan tidak menurut lunas-lunas perundangan ini sudah pasti menimbulkan banyak tanda tanya, tambahan apabila ia melibatkan dua negara yang menjadi anggota kepada Majlis…

The Rohingya Moment

Statelessness and Burma’s democratic transition Rohingya children in Maungdaw, northern Rakhine state. Images: Eric Paulsen         In the midst of the cautious excitement accompanying Burma’s seeming democratic transition, one of the key human rights issues that international leaders and Burma’s pro-democratic and ethnic activists have failed to address is the continuing statelessness and…

Kashgari’s habeas corpus application thrown out

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — The High Court here today dismissed the habeas corpus application filed by lawyers for Saudi Arabian journalist Hamzah Kashgari, granting the preliminary objection raised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.  Kashgari, who writes for the Jeddah-based Al Bilad newspaper, was deported on February 12 at the request of Saudi government for posting…

Hamza Kashgari, kamu dimana sekarang?

Sesiapa yang tahu mendalam tentang budaya Arab akan tahu bagaimana syair, sajak dan gurindam amat-amat dekat di hati bangsa Arab. Bukan sesuatu yang ganjil apabila kita bertemu seorang Beduin di padang pasir yang mungkin buta huruf tetapi boleh menghafal syair dan sajak yang berumur ratusan tahun. Puncak keindahan bahasa Arab ini boleh dihayati dalam al-Quran. ‘I love…

Malaysia ‘acted unlawfully’ in deporting Saudi journalist

Lawyers representing Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari have said there are no immigration records of his deportation from Malaysia, insinuating that the 23-year-old had been sent back to his native country surreptitiously and in violation of international laws concerning “non-refoulement”. According to Kashgari’s lawyer, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, neither Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (Subang) airport nor Kuala Lumpur International…

‘No immigration report of deportation’

KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyers representing Saudi Arabian journalist Hamza Kashgari Mohamad Najeeb said today that there were no immigration records showing that the 23-year-old was deported prior to a court injunction preventing the government from doing so. “We checked at the Subang airport immigration at between 2.15pm to 2.30pm and there were no immigration records of…

Malaysia defends deportation of Saudi journalist

Malaysia’s government on Monday defended its decision to deport a young Saudi journalist who may face persecution at home for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter. International rights groups have slammed the deportation but Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia was not a safe haven for fugitives. Jiddah-based newspaper columnist Hamza Kashgari, 23, was…

Lawyers for Saudi Writer Turn Up Heat on Malaysian Officials

A day after Malaysia deported a 23-year old Saudi Arabian journalist to face charges of insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter, his Malaysia-based lawyers are hoping to keep the case alive in Malaysia’s courts, even though it’s unlikely to affect the journalist’s fate in his home country. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Internet surfers check their Twitter accounts…

M’sia deports Saudi journalist Kashgari

Malaysia on Sunday deported a young Saudi journalist wanted in his home country over a Twitter post about the Prophet Mohammed, defying pleas from human rights group who said he faced execution. Hamza Kashgari, who was detained in Malaysia on Thursday after fleeing Saudi Arabia, has now left the country, national police spokesperson Ramli Yoosuf said. “He was deported to…

Despite virtual death sentence, Malaysia sends Saudi blogger home

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — Malaysia deported a Saudi Arabian blogger today, police said, despite fears voiced by human rights groups that he could face execution in his home country over Twitter comments he made that were deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammad. Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old columnist, sparked outrage in the oil-rich kingdom with…

Rights groups urge Putrajaya not to deport Saudi tweeter

Rights groups today urged Malaysia not to deport a young Saudi writer whose Twitter comments about the Prophet Mohammed triggered calls for execution in his home country. Hamza Kashgari was arrested after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Thursday and a police spokesman said was still being quizzed. Kashgari fled Saudi Arabia after making…

Democratic Push a Good Opportunity for Burma to Resolve Rohingya Statelessness

In the midst of the euphoria accompanying Burma’s seeming democratic transition, one of the key human rights issues that international leaders and Burma pro-democracy and ethnic group activists have failed to address is the continuing statelessness and marginalization of the Rohingyas, a Muslim ethnic minority concentrated in northern Rakhine State in western Burma, bordering Bangladesh.…