Irene Fernandez

Irene Fernandez (18 April 1946 – 31 March 2014) was a Malaysian human rights activist and politician. She was a People's Justice Party (KeADILan) supreme council member and the director and co-founder of the non-governmental organization Tenaganita, which promotes the rights of migrant workers and refugees in Malaysia.

In 1995, Irene Fernandez published a report on the living conditions of the migrant workers entitled "Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Conditions of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres". The report was based in part on information given to her by Steven Gan and a team of reporters from The Sun, who had uncovered evidence that 59 inmates, primarily Bangladeshis, had died in the Semenyih immigration detention camp of the preventable diseases typhoid and beriberi. When Gan and his colleagues were blocked by Sun editors from printing the report in the paper, they passed it to Fernandez.

She was arrested in 1996 and charged with 'maliciously publishing false news'.

Irene Fernandez's appeal at the High Court resumed on 28 October 2008. On 24 November 2008, Justice Mohamed Apandi Ali overturned her earlier conviction and acquitted her, ending the thirteen-year case.

She died on 31 March 2014 of heart failure.

Election results + Parliament of Malaysia: P107 Subang, Selangor YearOpposition Votes PctGovernmentVotesPctBallots castMajorityTurnout 1999 (KeADILan) 28,985 44.51% (MIC)36,13755.49%67,8477,15273.11%