Ioannis Gatsiounis wrote an article on Najib in Asia Times appears online today. Part of my interview was quoted:
… it doesn’t appear Najib would stray much from Malaysia’s draconian tradition toward civil liberties and human rights. He has been known to support restrictions on the media and has defended the use of civil liberty-curbing laws, such as the Internal Securities Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial. Significantly, Najib’s office oversees Suhakam, the government’s human-rights commission.
“His role has been to dampen Suhakam’s role in dealing with rights issues,” contends Tian Chua, information chief of the opposition Justice Party. “He has helped Suhakam avoid tackling controversial human-rights cases.” Najib has said Malaysia will introduce democratic reforms, but “it must be an evolution not a revolution, not through street demonstrations because this will create anarchy and chaos”.
The full text of the article can be read at Asia Times Online 17 October 2006.