Category Archives: Malaysia

1MDB scandal: Najib Razak found guilty in first trial linked to vast fraud

Posted on by

Former PM denied criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power over money transfers

1MDB scandal explained: a tale of Malaysia’s missing billions

Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak has been found guilty of all seven charges in his first trial linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal - a landmark conviction that could lead to decades in jail.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing in relation to what is one of the world’s biggest financial frauds, in which billions of dollars were allegedly looted from a state fund set up to promote development. The scandal shook Malaysian politics, led to the ousting of Najib’s Umno party after 61 years in power, and prompted a series of investigations in countries around the world.

Continue reading...

Rohingya face ‘cruel’ caning sentence in Malaysia as hostility to refugees grows

Posted on by

Survivors of dangerous sea journey convicted amid a rise in hate speech and mass detentions in centres rife with Covid-19

A group of Rohingya refugees who survived a treacherous journey at sea now face caning and seven months in jail after they were convicted under the immigration act in Malaysia, where activists have warned of an alarming rise in xenophobia and inhumane treatment of the migrants.

Hundreds of arrests and a sharp rise in hate speech have shocked refugees and migrants who had seen Malaysia as a welcoming country, particularly for Muslims, despite not being signed up to the 1951 refugee convention.

Continue reading...

Police interrogate five Australian Al Jazeera journalists accused of sedition in Malaysia

Posted on by

Journalists ordered to be questioned after broadcast of documentary about migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur during Covid-19 pandemic

Five Australian journalists are being interrogated by Malaysian authorities who have accused them of sedition and defamation after the broadcast of a documentary about migrant workers in Kuala Lumpur during Covid-19.

A week after the broadcast of the Al Jazeera English documentary in Malaysia, the journalists were ordered to attend the police station for questioning on Friday morning.

Continue reading...

Indonesian villagers defy Covid-19 warnings to rescue Rohingya refugees

Posted on by

Governments across south-east Asia are turning away boats but in Aceh locals took matters into their own hands

On Thursday afternoon, residents of Aceh, Indonesia, waded back and forth in water helping Rohingya refugees clamber to safety. Exhausted children were passed between rescuers.

On Lancok beach, where survivors gathered, a man knelt with his head on the sand, thankful to be alive. Another embraced a member of the rescue team tightly.

Continue reading...

Global report: EU nations continue steady exits from lockdown

Posted on by

Infections keep falling in EU but reports suggest Russian death toll much higher than official figures

France is to lift its state of emergency on 10 July, Denmark said opening its bars, restaurants and malls had not led to a rise in infections, and Austria will reopen its border with Italy next week as EU nations pursue their steady exits from lockdown.

However, Germany extended its coronavirus travel warnings for more than 160 countries outside Europe until the end of August and reports suggested that Moscow’s death toll may be twice as high as Russia’s official figures.

Continue reading...

Rohingya refugees sent to remote Bangladeshi island after weeks at sea

Posted on by

Hundreds more refugees still stranded on boats after being turned away by Malaysia

Rohingya refugees believed to have spent weeks stranded on cramped boats at sea have been sent to a remote, uninhabited island by Bangladesh, while hundreds more remain adrift.

Dozens of Rohingya landed on the coast of southern Bangladesh on Saturday, an official said, with some sent to Bhasan Char, a silt island in the estuary of Bangladesh’s Meghna river.

Continue reading...

Malaysia cites Covid-19 for rounding up hundreds of migrants

Posted on by

In move condemned by UN, refugees including Rohingya arrested amid rising climate of xenophobia

Malaysian authorities have rounded up and detained hundreds of undocumented migrants, including Rohingya refugees, as part of efforts to contain coronavirus, officials said.

Authorities said 586 undocumented migrants were arrested in a raid in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Friday. Armed police walked people through the city in a single file to a detention building, according to activists. The UN said the move could push vulnerable groups into hiding and prevent them from seeking treatment.

Continue reading...

‘Let the boats in’: Rohingya refugees plead for stranded relatives to be saved

Posted on by

Two boats still stranded at sea as Malaysia accused of using Covid-19 as an excuse to turn them back

Rohingya refugees whose relatives, including children, have been stranded for weeks on cramped boats have urged international governments to act before they perish at sea.

Two boats carrying around 500 people were last spotted off Bangladesh about a week ago, but are believed to have returned to the high seas. The refugees on board, who were fleeing desperate conditions in camps in Bangladesh, had attempted to reach Malaysia but appear to have been turned away. Bangladesh has also said it will not allow the boats to dock.

Continue reading...

NHS urged to avoid PPE gloves made in ‘slave-like’ conditions

Posted on by

In securing PPE for NHS staff working on coronavirus frontline, government must not ignore abuse of factory workers, warn activists

The government must not ignore the “slave-like” conditions of migrant workers making rubber medical gloves in Malaysia in its rush to source protective equipment to keep frontline NHS staff safe from coronavirus, human rights groups say.

Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of rubber gloves, but the industry has been accused of grossly exploiting its workforce, mostly impoverished migrants from Bangladesh and Nepal.

Continue reading...

Malaysia and Thailand urged to help stranded Rohingya refugees

Posted on by

Amnesty International makes plea over hundreds of people stuck on as many as five boats

Hundreds more Rohingya refugees remain stranded at sea, rights groups have warned, just one day after it emerged that dozens of people died onboard a boat that was refused entry to Malaysia and left adrift for two months.

On Friday, Malaysia’s air force confirmed it had denied entry to a second boat carrying about 200 Rohingya people, claiming it had done so to prevent further spread of the coronavirus within the country, which remains under lockdown.

Continue reading...

Has Malaysia’s new PM inherited a poisoned chalice?

Posted on by

Muhyiddin Yassin faces big challenges – and some say he may be bad news for minorities

When Malaysia’s government plunged into chaos last month, some believed the country’s veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad was likely to emerge an even more powerful political force. Instead, it was Muhyiddin Yassin, a much quieter figure, who was eventually appointed prime minister.

Muhyiddin, a conservative Malay nationalist, is a low-profile and cautious politician, say analysts.

Continue reading...

Muhyiddin Yassin named as Malaysian prime minister

Posted on by

Appointment follows week of turmoil after collapse of Mahathir Mohamad government

Malaysia’s 94-year-old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has lost a power struggle with an ex-interior minister in a shock twist that will return a scandal-plagued party to power.

Muhyiddin Yassin will be sworn as PM in on Sunday, royal officials said, after a week of turmoil that followed the collapse of a reformist government and Mahathir’s resignation as premier.

Continue reading...

Malaysia’s political turmoil: everything you need to know

Posted on by

Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation sets rival parties against each other and could result in a snap election

The country’s ruling alliance collapsed on Monday after the prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, the world’s oldest leader, shocked the nation by announcing that he would be stepping down. The king accepted his resignation but asked for him to stay on as interim leader. The country is now in limbo as rival parties rush to strike deals and form a government.

Continue reading...

Reform urged in Malaysia after disabled man is jailed for attempted suicide

Posted on by

Campaign groups unite in condemnation of ‘grossly inhumane and incompassionate’ verdict

Human rights groups in Malaysia are calling for the repeal of a law that criminalises attempted suicide after a man with a physical disability was sentenced to six months in prison for trying to take his own life.

Malaysia is one of the few countries where attempting suicide is illegal. Under existing legislation, people found guilty can be punished by up to a year in prison, a fine, or both. But the Malaysian government is now considering a change to the law, which advocates say cannot come soon enough.

Continue reading...

Deaths of 16 Rohingya at sea raises fears trafficking ring has been revived

Posted on by

Smugglers responsible for mass atrocities in Thailand may be linked to capsized boat carrying refugees from Bangladesh to Malaysia

Activists fear a dangerous transnational trafficking network is being revived after at least 16 Rohingya refugees drowned in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday morning.

Bangladeshi officials said a wooden fishing boat carrying about 138 people capsized near Bangladesh’s St Martin’s island in the early hours.

Continue reading...

The Wolf of Wall Street’s Jordan Belfort sues film’s producers for $300m

Posted on by

Former stockbroker sues scandal-hit production company Red Granite for fraud and breach of contract

Jordan Belfort, the former stockbroker whose story inspired the Martin Scorsese-directed hit The Wolf of Wall Street, is suing the film’s financiers for fraud and breach of contract, and claiming $300m in compensation.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Belfort’s legal action arises directly from the financial scandal surrounding Red Granite, the production company that put up the film’s $100m budget but was subsequently linked to a multimillion-dollar embezzlement in which huge sums were siphoned from 1MDB, a Malaysian state fund. Riza Aziz, Red Granite’s co-founder and stepson of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, is currently under arrest in Malaysia on money laundering charges.

Continue reading...

Sumatran rhinoceros now extinct in Malaysia, say zoologists

Posted on by

Last of the species in country, a female rhino named Iman, ‘died sooner than expected’

The Sumatran rhinoceros has become extinct in Malaysia, zoologists have announced.

The last of the species in the country succumbed to cancer in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, it was revealed.

Continue reading...

Shock and gnaw: rat-eating macaques ‘stun’ scientists

Posted on by

Animals act as natural pest control in Malaysia’s vast palm oil plantations, reducing crop losses from rodents

Scientists in Malaysia have said they were “stunned” to discover monkeys regularly killing and eating rats on palm oil plantations, providing a natural anti-pest measure in the country, which is responsible for 30% of the world’s palm oil production.

A report released in Current Biology on Monday, showed that southern pig-tailed macaques, generally thought to eat mainly fruit plus occasionally lizards and birds, foraged for rats on plantations. The authors said that the monkeys’ appetite for rodents showed that rather than being pests, as is commonly believed, the primates’ presence reduced crop losses.

Continue reading...

Superyacht linked to Jho Low and 1MDB scandal for sale again, for an extra $74m

Posted on by

The Tranquility, seized by authorities and sold for a ‘bargain’ $126m in April, is back on market after stint as celebrity hangout

A superyacht once owned by Jho Low, a fugitive at the centre of Malaysia’s 1MDB financial scandal, has been put back on the market after a few months as a celebrity party venue.

The vessel, now named Tranquility, is being sold for US$200m, an increase of more than $70m on its previous price tag. It is currently owned by the Genting Group, a Malaysian conglomerate with business interests in real estate, hospitality, plantations and energy supply.

Continue reading...