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Southeast Asia
HRW and Amnestia Intl denounce Malaysia for deporting tweeter
2012-02-13
Malaysia's government on Monday defended its decision to deport a young Saudi journalist
23 year old Hamza Kashgari, a muslim of Uyghur descent who, on Feb 10, tweeted the following,
"On your birthday, I will say that I have loved the rebel in you, that you've always been a source of inspiration to me, and that I do not like the halos of divinity around you. I shall not pray for you.
On your birthday, I find you wherever I turn. I will say that I have loved aspects of you, hated others, and could not understand many more.
On your birthday, I shall not bow to you. I shall not kiss your hand. Rather, I shall shake it as equals do, and smile at you as you smile at me. I shall speak to you as a friend, no more."

who may face persecution at home for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter.
HRW view
Human Rights Watch slammed Malaysia's failure to respect human rights. It said Kashgari was kept incommunicado and denied access to lawyers and the U.N. refugee agency. Police also told lawyers that Kashgari was still being held after he already had been forced on a plane, it said.

"By its actions, the ministry of home affairs once again showed that it believes rule of law is whatever it says and that it is more than willing to be totally opaque in its operations to maintain its flexibility to do what it wants when it wants," said Phil Robertson, its Asia deputy director.

"If he (Kashgari) faces execution back in Saudi Arabia, the Malaysian government will have blood on its hands," he said.
Amnesty Intl view
Amnesty International has called Kashgari a "prisoner of conscience."
Posted by:lord garth

#1  
Posted by: Anonymoose   2012-02-13 14:31  

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