This year was the worst year for human rights in Malaysia since Operation Lallang in 1987, said Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong.

“The detention without trial of (Bersih chairperson) Maria Chin Abdullah and other human rights defenders brings me memories of Ops Lallang,” Kua said at the launch of Suaram’s 2016 human rights report in Malaysia held in Kuala Lumpur today.

Operation Lallang was a major crackdown in 1987 on those seen to be government dissidents, with over 100 politicians and activists arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA).