ALIRAN is dismayed with the legal action being taken against our former executive committee member Sarajun Hoda Abdul Hassan, who also served as the deputy chairman of the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) for a time.
We are particularly concerned that this matter concerning a Facebook post by Sarajun on April 26 midnight and deleted in the morning is being raised now, at a time when Malaysians are focused on the events of the last few days.
These events include the contract doctors’ hartal, the youths’ #Lawan protest rally in Kuala Lumpur and the undue forced police closure of the roads leading to Parliament – upon the orders of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) executive – that prevented 107 MPs from performing their duties as the people’s elected representatives.
There is also the PN Government’s disappointing performance in combating the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in rising deaths and a deluge of positive cases.
Even if Sarajun’s Facebook post was considered offensive, he removed it within hours. It is not inconceivable that only a handful of people could have viewed his original post.
Apparently, what was circulated were the comments of someone who had seen Sarajun’s post and misrepresented it to others, one of whom then filed a police report against the post.
No doubt, the legal action against Sarajun Hoda, like the detention of other activists now, are attempts to distract Malaysians from the incompetence of the PN executive, the shortcircuiting of our parliamentary process and the major turbulences they have created.
Our thoughts are with Sarajun during this trying time.
We feel this legal action against him is a travesty of justice.
There was never a need for Sarajun to have been handcuffed for six hours while in custody. Nor was it necessary to require him to surrender his passport and to report to the authorities every month.
Sarajun had travelled to Taiping on his own to attend the hearing as required. After all, he had merely posted a comment on his own Facebook, which was erased within hours.
Aliran stands in solidarity with Sarajun. We are sure Sarajun will not let their treatment of him dampen his indomitable spirit in the struggle for justice. – Aug 4, 2021.
The statement was issued by the Aliran executive committee.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Photos credit: Astro Awani and Aliran
