| sedation act |
| Ex-Malaysian oppn leader convicted on sedition charge KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A former opposition leader was convicted on Friday on a sedition charge of provoking racial discord in a speech during Malaysia's bitterly fought general elections in 1999. Marina Yusof, vice president of the National Justice Party at the time, was fined 5,000 ringgit ($1,315) but was spared from prison for accusing the ruling party of sparking racial riots between ethnic Malay Muslims and Chinese in 1969 that killed hundreds. The maximum penalty could have been three years in prison. Marina allegedly made the remarks against the United Malays National Organization, led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, at an opposition rally in the northern town of Butterworth ahead of the November 1999 elections. Butterworth Sessions Court Judge Siti Mariah Ahmad ruled Friday that Marina, who quit politics last year, made the comments to provoke minority Chinese against Malays, the dominant group in this Southeast Asian nation of 22 million people. The 1969 riots stemmed from Malay anger at Chinese dominance of the economy. Afterward, the government instituted affirmative action policies to benefit Malays. Over the years the policies have become a source of resentment among Chinese, who feel individual effort goes unrewarded. A Chinese group that had demanded the polices be scrapped set aside its appeal recently when a Malay student group threatened holy war. Marina and several prominent opposition activists were arrested in a crackdown after UMNO, which has formed the core of every government since independence from Britain in 1957, won the elections despite large gains by the opposition. In recent months, the government has charged several Justice Party officials for alleged rioting and illegal assembly during a recent by-election in northern Malaysia, which the ruling party lost. The Justice Party is led by Azizah Ismail, wife of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, who was fired by Mahathir in 1998. Anwar has been imprisoned with sentences totaling 15 years for corruption and sodomy, which he claims are part of a conspiracy to prevent him from challenging Mahathir for power. The government denies it. Mahathir has ruled Malaysia since 1981 and turned the country into one of the most prosperous in Asia, but the 1999 elections revealed a large split among the Malay vote that forms his powerbase. (AP) |
| News Service 009/00 14 January 2000 AI INDEX: ASA 28/01/00 PUBLIC STATEMENT Malaysia Opposition leaders charged with sedition - selective prosecutions reflect politically-motivated misuse of restrictive laws Amnesty International today expressed grave concern at the Malaysian Government's renewed use of restrictive laws, including the Sedition Act and the Official Secrets Act (OSA), to charge journalists, publishers and leading members of opposition parties, including former deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's defence lawyer, Karpal Singh. "Hopes that divisions within Malaysian society might begin to be reconciled through a renewed respect for the right of all citizens to peacefully express dissenting views have been dashed - the Malaysian authorities are once again resorting to selective prosecutions to curb and deter freedom of expression." Today, opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) deputy chairman Karpal Singh and Keadilan (KDN - National Justice Party) vice-president Marina Yusoff pleaded not guilty to charges of sedition, while former Anwar Ibrahim aide Mohamad Ezam Noor denied charges under the OSA. Yesterday, Zulkifli Sulong, editor of the opposition Parti Islamic SeMalaysia (PAS) newspaper 'Harakah', and its publisher, Chia Lim Thye, also denied charges of publishing an allegedly seditious article. Amnesty International has long believed that the continued existence of an array of restrictive laws in Malaysia, many unable to be challenged in court, pose a grave threat to fundamental rights of freedom of expression, association and assembly. The organisation fears that the safeguards designed to prevent the authorities from using such laws to initiate selective prosecutions for political purposes have been fundamentally weakened. The organisation is concerned that, under the current broadly-defined terms of the Sedition Act, both government and opposition figures have made statements in the course of public and electoral debate which can be interpreted as potentially seditious. However, only opposition members have now been charged. "Charging political leaders and journalists with sedition threatens to strike at the heart of free speech in a democratic society. Charging lawyers with sedition for statements made in court in defence of their clients threatens the rights of fair trial. When such prosecutions appear to fall solely on opposition figures, public confidence in the rule of law and administration of justice risks being seriously undermined,"Amnesty International said. Amnesty International is also concerned that the courts may not provide an adequate defence of the fundamental right of freedom of expression enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution and in international human rights law. In 1998 Lim Guan Eng, a DAP parliamentarian charged with sedition, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. A prisoner of conscience, he was released in August 1999. |