A Malaysian activist who campaigned for the rights of the seafaring minority was questioned by police under sedition laws on Thursday, raising concerns a few backsliding on democratic freedoms under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Mukmin Nantang, founding father of the social group Borneo Komrad, was briefly detained by police as a part of an investigation into him sharing videos showing authorities destroying Bajau Laut homes, his lawyer Nurul Rafeeqa said.
It is unclear whether Mukmin might be charged, she added.
The Bajau Laut live mainly in floating houses or rickety picket huts built on stilts off the coast of Borneo within the state of Sabah. Many should not have identification documents and authorities consider them migrants.
Police in Semporna, a district in Sabah state where many Bajau Laut homes were burned or demolished this month, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Authorities say the operation was carried out to extend security and combat cross-border crime.
Amnesty International Malaysia has criticised using the sedition law against activists and called on authorities to conclude the investigation.
“The government has a duty to protect human rights defenders, not to arrest and attempt to intimidate them. Furthermore, the use of the Sedition Act to silence the voices of human rights defenders is a clear violation of the right to free speech,” the group’s executive director, Katrina Jorene Maliamauv, said in an announcement.
Anwar, who spent nearly a decade in prison as an opposition leader and campaigned on a progressive platform, has faced criticism for the slow pace of reform and the federal government’s control of online content. The government said this 12 months it might review the Sedition Act, disappointing some rights groups that want it repealed.
His government has also launched sedition and corruption investigations against opposition figures and increased scrutiny of the country’s LGBTQ community. Corruption cases against political allies have also been dropped.
