NO ARAB SPRING IF PEOPLE GIVEN FREEDOM
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - There will be no Arab Spring if people are
given the freedom of expression and assemble, the international anti-corruption
conference was told.
Amnesty International secretary general Salil Shetty(photo)
warned that the use of the Sedition Act
and Prevention of Terrorism Act would curb dissent, 
the people's freedom to
express and assemble.
the people's freedom to
express and assemble.
"Corruption is likely to happen. Human rights does not
exist without corruption. Media, students, NGOs and opposition lawmakers might
be subjected to intimidation," he said at the conference here.
- Shetty said he had been told by the Malaysian authorities that by giving people the freedom of expression, it could lead to an 'Arab Spring.'
- Jokingly, he said, there were no Arabs and no spring in Malaysia. " Only beautiful summer days," he said.
"But seriously, the reason why the Arab Spring happened
was because their freedom of expression was curtailed by the authorities.
"The Malaysian government should be confident of its
people and it was good to see that the authorities exercised restraint on the Bersih 4 rally.
It is quite possible for people to be swayed by
erroneous rumor but people are not stupid... They can evaluate
themselves, Salil said.
Source: The Star
$1 BILLION IN BLOCKED "ARAB SPRING" ASSETS IN SWISS CIFFERS
GENEVA - Switzerland has blocked nearly one billion Swiss
francs (664.80 million pounds) in stolen assets linked to dictators in
four countries at the centre of the Arab spring - Egypt, Libya, Syria
and Tunisia - the Swiss foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Swiss
authorities are cooperating with judicial authorities in Tunisia and
Egypt to speed restoration of the funds, 700 million francs of which are
tied to former President Hosni Mubarak and his entourage, said Valentin
Zellweger, head of the international law department at the Swiss
foreign ministry.
"Today a total of one billion francs is blocked
in the framework of Arab spring," he told a news briefing in Geneva,
giving the latest figures for funds seized since early 2011.
Source: Reuters
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
