MALAYSIA is seeing real tyranny with the selective persecution of opposition leaders recently, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said.

“This happened because of a political agenda to strengthen the wrong powers, not based on the concept of justice that must be upheld with the right process without wrongful interference,” he said in an article titled “When leaders are not fair”.

He said it is illegal to act against someone based on mere accusations broadcasted in the media without following due investigative processes and judicial procedure.

“It is even more unfortunate when those in power deliberately slander and bring witnesses to take down their foes.

“It is clear there is a cruel act of selectively dragging opponents to court,” Hadi said.

He said those in power had acted to stop judicial proceedings involving their close allies, even if those allies deserved to be hauled to court. 

“When evidence was presented in court and trials were still ongoing, the process was cut short and (the proceedings) were stopped.”

Hadi however did not cite examples of this claim or specify which cases were suspended in this manner. 

Recently, several leaders from Perikatan Nasional, of which PAS is a component, were brought to court with corruption charges.

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin and former information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan were among those charged in court.

Both have accused the government of pursuing selective persecution of opposition leaders. – March 18, 2023.