Human Rights NGO wants apology from Sarawak PKR chief for "secessionist" labelling

A Sarawak non-governmental organisation wants a public apology from PKR Sarawak chief Baru Bian for labelling it "secessionist" in his recent Malaysia Day message.

Sarawak Association of Peoples' Aspiration (Sapa) president Lina Soo said Baru had defamed the group by naming it along with two others as groups calling for secession.

The native customary rights lawyer has two weeks to make a public apology or Sapa will take legal action, Soo said at a press conference today.

"The apology shall be accompanied with a reasonable monetary contribution to Sapa as a show of his sincerity and to support the cause of human rights in Sarawak," Soo added.

In his Malaysia Day message on September 16 Baru had warned Putrajaya that talk of secession in Sabah and Sarawak would increase if the federal government failed to keep the Malaysia Day Agreements.

Baru had named Sapa, along with the Sovereignty Movement and Sarawak for Sarawakians as emerging voices.

"We are only seeing the start of such movements which I predict will increase in number and strength," he had said.

But Soo said Sapa was a legitimate entity registered with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and Baru's branding of the group as secessionist would have serious implications as it was made by a political leader and senior lawyer.

“This careless labelling of Sapa will endanger and jeopardise its members’ safety and security,” she said.

Soo said that while it was common knowledge that Sapa had been raising awareness on the exploitation of Sarawak after 51 years in Malaysia, it was not secessionist.

“Sapa is a human rights NGO and it is its duty to voice out the widespread discussions taking place on the streets in Sarawak on issues related to the failure of promises made for formation of Malaysia.

“Part of the justification to form Malaysia was to eradicate poverty, raise the people's standard of living and ensure security. However, the people in Sabah and Sarawak are very unhappy that they have instead become the poorest in Malaysia,” she said.

Soo said Baru's comments were “intentionally malicious” and linked to his previous statement on February 17 when he said any talk on secession was treasonous.

She said Baru's comments were made because “PKR leaders may have been made to feel threatened by the fast growing civil society movement which has transcended all political barriers and coalesced into one common platform for Sarawak rights”.