Photo: EPA/Fazry Ismail, selected by Southeast Asia Globe.

I’ve made some comments in the Southeast Asia Globe on Malaysia’s new National Security Council Act. My comments were:

“The powers in the National Security Council act are so wide-ranging that they permit almost any public activity to be construed as a threat to national security, with potentially devastating consequences,” said Amrita Malhi, a researcher on Malaysia based at the University of Adelaide.

Though the act was ostensibly promoted as a response to Islamic terrorism, Malhi told Southeast Asia Globe measures were already in place that allowed the government to prosecute extremists. She added that the act could potentially be used to counter “any challenge to the position of the current government”.

• The full story is available from Southeast Asia Globe.