A Southeast Asia based regional alliance of independent journalists’ and press-related organizations issued a statement against the use of OSA today (1 Feb).
The regional organisation, which mandate is to promote and protect press freedom, is known as Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA). In the statement, SEAPA expressed its concern “that the Malaysian government is subjecting whistleblowers of a government document of high public interest to police interrogation and threatening them with prosecution.”
The statement noted that:
“Civic society has viewed the threat (of OSA) as the latest in a string of disappointments from a prime minister who had promised an open, transparent and accountable government.”