Malaysia Freezes Rights Groups' Accounts Without Explanation
Surveillance control · 15.09.2026

Malaysia has invented a new way to fight foreign funding — just freeze the accounts of human rights defenders without explanation. Neat, elegant, and best of all, no need to bother with evidence.

On September 11, it emerged that the personal bank account of Amir Harith Hadi, executive director of MANDIRI, had been frozen under Section 44(1) of the anti-money laundering law — until further notice from the police. At the same time, the accounts of MANDIRI's financial director and HAYAT CEO Dobby Chew were frozen, along with the accounts of both organizations. As of September 14, the organizations still had received no official notification of any investigation. The money is simply gone, and as for why — figure it out yourself.

The story began in May 2026, when the political secretary to the finance minister and head of PKR's youth wing, Kamil Munim, called for an investigation into "foreign funding" of NGOs, activists, and politicians — for the sake of national security, of course. A formulation that opens the door to just about anything.

A week before the accounts were frozen, on September 3, Amir Hadi learned he was barred from leaving the country. Around the same time, Dobby Chew ran into trouble returning to Kuala Lumpur from Jakarta — and was likewise barred from traveling. Both voluntarily showed up at the Bukit Aman police station on September 14 to clarify the situation — since no one had bothered to inform them of anything.

This is not an isolated case. There's an investigation against former C4 Center head Pushpan Murugiah for "activity harmful to parliamentary democracy." There are the arrests of activists Hamdin Nordin, Fakhrurrazi Khairur Rijal, and Ahsanul Akmal Sulam over allegations of abuse at the Anti-Corruption Commission. There's the probe into activist Shakila Zen for linking a royal institution to sand mining. And there's the travel ban on three BERSIH activists.

ARTICLE 19 and CIVICUS are demanding the accounts be unfrozen, the travel bans lifted, and the investigations dropped. Malaysia is heading into elections — the perfect time to show whether civil society can be strangled without consequences, or not.

Source: https://www.article19.org/resources/malaysia-reprisals-against-human-rights-defenders-threaten-civic-space/