Anwar Ibrahim discusses the new generation of human rights violators: governments that hide behind the façade of democracy and commit crimes in its name. Facing trial, but still striving to break more than fifty years of single-party rule in Malaysia, he remains steadfast in his optimism and trust in true democracy and the wisdom of the masses. Fighting not only for freedom of speech, but also freedom after speech, he implores citizens to scrutinize the validity of vote-winning slogans such as freedom, democracy, and human rights, which are all too often empty or skewed.

About

Anwar Ibrahim is the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia and the current leader of Keadilan, the People’s Justice Party. Before becoming deputy prime minister in 1996, Ibrahim held various cabinet positions, including minister of agriculture, culture, education, and finance. During his tenure as finance minister, Malaysia earned recognition as an “Asian tiger" and Newsweek named him its 1998 “Asian of the Year" for his role in steering Malaysia's economy out of the Asian financial crisis. Later that year, Ibrahim spearheaded a reform movement that eventually led him to accuse Prime Minister Mahathir – of his own party – of corruption. Today, Ibrahim is working to form a new government that would break more than 50 years of one-party rule.