Latest news with #ZaidMalek
Malaysiakini
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Malaysiakini
LFL: Will govt arrest thousands who have read, shared JAC leak?
The Lawyers for Liberty has slammed authorities for threatening action under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) over the alleged leak of Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) meeting minutes. The legal rights group's director Zaid Malek said the move is unnecessary and shows a disconnect with public concerns over alleged interference with judicial independence. 'Is the government intending to...
Malaysiakini
01-07-2025
- Malaysiakini
Court of Appeal bins 'Mentega Terbang' filmmakers' legal challenge
A three-member Court of Appeal bench has dismissed an application by 'Mentega Terbang' filmmakers to appeal against a High Court decision related to two constitutional questions based on charges of wounding religious feelings under Section 298 of the Penal Code. When contacted, lawyer Zaid Malek said there are no further avenues to appeal against the dismissal.
South China Morning Post
02-06-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
In Malaysia, LGBTQ sexual health workshop probe sparks free speech row
Civil society groups are challenging a police investigation into an LGBTQ sexual-health workshop in Malaysia , rejecting claims that it could offend Islam or threaten public order. Advertisement While Malaysia is secular and multicultural, Islam is the state religion, with Islamic authorities empowered to regulate Muslim affairs and enforce religious mores through the sharia court system. Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan on Saturday said the closed-door workshop, which was slated for mid-June but has since been indefinitely postponed, was being investigated under the Penal Code for causing 'disharmony or ill will' on religious grounds – as well as under the Communications and Multimedia Act, a law often used to restrict online expression. Critics called the police action another example of overreach by authorities and warned against the criminalisation of public-health efforts for a marginalised community. Swatch LGBTQ Pride watches were seized in Malaysia in 2023. Photo: Swatch 'The fact that Islam is the official religion does not authorise the government to go on a witch hunt against events which allegedly infringe the tenets of Islam,' Zaid Malek, director of Lawyers for Liberty, a human rights advocacy group, said on Sunday.
Malaysiakini
01-06-2025
- Politics
- Malaysiakini
No legal grounds to probe LGBTQ+ workshop, says LFL
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) urged the police to stop their investigation against PSM Youth over its LGBTQ+ health awareness workshop. In a statement today, LFL director Zaid Malek claimed police had no legal basis to probe the event and regarded the investigation as amounting to a serious abuse of power by the authority. This followed Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan's statement yesterday, who said they have launched an investigation under Section 298A of the Penal Code, which criminalises...
