A security guard stands in front of Malaysia’s iconic building, Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in this Jan. 14, 2016 photo.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian security law that gives embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak sweeping emergency powers came into force Monday, with Amnesty International warning it could be used to trample on human rights.
Under the National Security Council Act, a council led by Najib, who faces pressure to resign over a financial scandal, can declare a state of emergency in areas deemed to be under a security threat. Security forces can impose curfews and have wide powers of arrest, search and seizure without a warrant.
The law is aimed at countering terrorism threats, but critics fear Najib will use it as a tool to hold on to power.
Amnesty said the law “empowers the Malaysian authorities to trample over human rights and act with impunity.”
“With this new law, the government now has spurned checks and assumed potentially abusive powers,” Josef Benedict, Amnesty’s deputy director for South East Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement.
The human rights group said Najib and his government were increasingly resorting to repressive laws in the name of protecting national security “but in practice, imperil human rights.”
The UN human rights regional office last week also said it was “gravely concerned” that the law may encourage human rights violations and lead to “unjust restrictions” on free speech and assembly.
Najib has been dogged for months by embezzlement investigations involving state investment fund 1MDB, which he founded in 2009. It is being investigated in several countries including the US, Switzerland and Singapore.
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