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Malaysian police to monitor websites amid crackdown on demos

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (AFP) - Malaysian police mounting a crackdown on anti-government protests said Friday they would investigate websites which call for street demonstrations.

Earlier this week police seized a computer from the operator of a website which supports jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Police have also arrested an opposition leader on suspicion of sedition over his alleged call for
protests to topple Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government.

Officers will monitor websites that invite people to take part in street demonstrations, said deputy national police chief Mohamad Jamil Johari.

"We will monitor and investigate every such website. We will try to identify the individuals involved for us to take action," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

Raja Petra Kamarudin who operates the FreeAnwar website, told AFP Friday that police raided his house Wednesday and seized a computer following a complaint about seditious articles.

"They said my articles on the website are very
seditious and that posting such news on the website means inciting people to demonstrate and encouraging chaos in the country," he said.

Mahathir, who is promoting Malaysia as an information technology centre, has promised not to censor the Internet.

Opposition leader Mohamad Ezam Mohamad Nor was still behind bars after a judge ruled Friday that police have a right to remand him while they investigate him for alleged sedition.

Ezam was detained Monday following his alleged call in Sunday's edition of Utusan Malaysia newspaper for mass protests to topple the government.

Ezam, who is youth chief of the National Justice Party (Keadilan) headed by Anwar's wife, said he was misquoted. He said he spoke only of planned peaceful protests against alleged corruption and cronyism.

On Wednesday police obtained a court order to detain Ezam in custody till Saturday for investigations. His lawyers challenged the order in the High Court on Friday but the judge upheld it.

It was not clear if Ezam would be charged on Saturday. He could face up to three years' jail if charged with sedition and convicted.

Justice Abdul Wahab Patail said reported plans to hold street rallies "indicates that the scope of investigation is not as simple and narrow" as it involved the "participation and cooperation" of others.

"I cannot therefore say that the order of remand is wrong and would therefore confirm the remand order of four days to Saturday," he added.

Ezam, who was handcuffed as he was led out of court, said: "Another day in the lockup is nothing to me ... my arrest from day one has raised many concerns.

"I will pursue my earlier intentions to take legal action against Utusan Malaysia for purportedly plotting with some UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) leaders to give a very negative image of me."

Demonstrations are illegal in Malaysia without a permit and were once a rare occurrence. But street protests have become more common since Mahathir sacked his heir apparent Anwar in September 1998.

Anwar was later convicted of abuse of power and sodomy and jailed for a total of 15 years in what he says was political persecution. The government denies any political motive.

Malaysian police pressure Anwar supporters
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian authorities piled more pressure on campaigners for the release of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's jailed rival on Friday, keeping one activist locked up and forcing them to shift website operations overseas.

A High Court told activist Ezam Mohd Noor, who leads the youth wing of the main opposition Parti Keadilan Nasional, he will be released or charged on Saturday, after he challenged the police's right to hold him longer.

His arrest on Monday prompted a storm of protest from opposition parties, and international human rights group Amnesty International also called for his release.

"Another day in the lock-up is nothing to me," said the 34-year-old Ezam, as he was led away from the High Court back to a police cell.

The police usually release or charge anyone detained after 24 hours, but on Wednesday they were granted four more days to investigate a pro-government newspaper report saying Ezam planned daily protests to bring down the government.

Ezam, whose party is fighting for the release of Mahathir's one-time heir apparent, Anwar Ibrahim, could be charged under the Sedition Act, which carries a sentence of up to three years' jail for a first offence.

COMPUTER SEIZED

Earlier on Friday, the editor of opposition website www.freeanwar.com said his site had shifted operations outside the country after police seized a computer from his home.

The site remains online but will be updated less often, editor Raja Petra Kamarudin told Reuters.

Police were reported as saying a website report could be seditious.

"The raid was based on a police report by one of our men about an article on the website we perceive as seditious," the Sun newspaper quoted Kuala Lumpur police official Mohd Bakri Zinin as saying.

Police could not be reached for comment.

Mahathir's government has often pledged not to censor the Internet. Police action against the pro-Anwar site comes on the heels of a campaign against malaysiakini.com, an online news site whose critical articles have drawn Mahathir's wrath.

Ezam and leaders of other youth wings of parties in the Barisan Alternatif (Alternative Front) launched a nationwide campaign last week to highlight alleged misuse of public funds to bail out Malay tycoons with ties to government.

Ezam faces trial separately under the Official Secrets Act for releasing Anti-Corruption Agency reports of investigations into a cabinet minister and a former Mahathir ally. He could be jailed for between one and seven years if convicted.

He is also facing charges of rioting and wrongfully confining busloads of government supporters during a by-election that the ruling coalition lost in November. The opposition says it believes the buses were carrying unregistered voters to inflate the ruling party's tally.

With a style of dress and speech similar to Anwar's, Ezam has become a torch-bearer of the jailed former deputy prime minister's Reformasi movement.

Anwar is serving a 15-year jail sentence on corruption and sex charges he says were trumped up. Mahathir denies the allegation but foreign governments, including the U.S. State Department, have called Anwar a political prisoner.

Friday March 9, 6:20 PM
Malaysian police grab opposition website computer

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian opposition website has shifted operations outside the country after police seized its editor's computer.

The site, www.freeanwar.com, remains online but will be updated less often, editor Raja Petra Kamarudin told Reuters on Friday.

Police seized Raja Petra's computer on suspicion it contained a seditious article, the local Sun newspaper reported.

"The raid was based on a police report by one of our men about an article on the website we perceive as seditious," the Sun quoted Kuala Lumpur police official Mohd Bakri Zinin as saying.

Police could not be reached for comment.

The government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, widely accused of stifling public criticism, has repeatedly pledged it will not censor the Internet. The seizure comes amid a government campaign against online news site malaysiakini.com, whose operators Mahathir says behave like traitors.

Malaysia has invested hundreds of millions dollars in its multimedia super corridor project to try to become a regional high-tech superpower. The government offers foreign firms tax-free deals to invest and promises not to censor the Internet.

"It seems even though they (the government) promised the Internet will have no controls, no restrictions... now we are being hit," Raja Petra said.

The site editor was arrested on Tuesday night after a vigil for opposition activist Ezam Mohd Noor, the former political secretary to jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim. He was released after police took the computer late on Wednesday.

Ezam, youth leader of the pro-Anwar opposition Parti Keadilan Nasional, was arrested on Monday for reportedly threatening to hold protests that would topple the government.

Anwar, Mahathir's deputy prime minister until 1998, is serving 15 years in jail for corruption and sodomy offences he says were fabricated after he challenged Mahathir's leadership.

Mahathir says Anwar is immoral and unfit to rule.