BUSINESS will continue as usual for law reform watchdog Lawyers for Liberty (LfL), said its new director Melissa Sasidaran, with a continued focus on addressing issues such as the death penalty and detention without trial.

Following the move of her predecessor, Latheefa Koya, to the top post of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Melissa is set to push for the same issues Latheefa and former LfL director Eric Paulsen did for the past decade.

“Even though there has been a change in government – there certainly is more freedom now – a lot of work remains to be done, as progress on human rights reforms has been slow and unsatisfactory,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

Now working with LfL co-founder and adviser N. Surendran, Melissa has no desire to change tack from the path set by Latheefa and Paulsen, the latter now Malaysia’s representative to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.

“I am confident that I have been mentored well as I have worked with them for many years already,” she said.

Law reform issues that she says must be resolved include the death penalty, detention without trial, statelessness, custodial deaths and civil liberties in general.

“We will continue advocating for all of these issues and continue engaging the government,” she said.

Melissa said that with the opposition now “weak and without credibility”, there is a bigger call for LfL and other civil society groups to keep the government in check.

“(We must) ensure they uphold the rule of law and protect fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, expression, and assembly,” she said.

Melissa said that she hoped Latheefa would initiate reforms within MACC, given the two groups’ contentious history and LfL’s numerous criticisms of the latter.

Criticised issues include MACC’s refusal to allow lawyers to accompany their clients or witnesses to having statements taken, in breach of their right to legal representation.

LfL has also criticised MACC for making suspects wear orange lock-up uniforms during remand hearings, which Melissa said creates the impression of decided guilt despite verdicts being yet to be given.

“We hope Latheefa, with her human rights background, will be able to initiate reforms within MACC, so that the rights of all suspects are protected,” she said.

Melissa, formerly LfL’s legal and campaign coordinator, has represented civil society movements, politicians and activists in urgent arrests, remand hearings and criminal cases, particularly for offences under the Sedition Act 1948, Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, Penal Code, and Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

She was called to the Malaysian Bar in 2010, and last year completed her LLM in Human Rights, Conflict and Justice at SOAS University of London. – June 7, 2019.