Malaysia arrests Indian lawyer on sedition charge, detains Anwar

Malaysian crackdown IANS (sify.com

Hindraf leader arrested, sedition charge likely

Tuesday, 11 December , 2007, 12:45

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian police on Tuesday arrested P. Uthayakumar, legal advisor of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and the man behind a rally of Indian immigrants November 25. He could be charged with sedition, attracting stringent punishment.
The arrest, part of the drive against opposition leaders and rights activists, came hours after Malaysia's police chief, Inspector-General Musa Hassan, said their investigations would be sufficient for court action against Hindraf leaders.
Full coverage: Malaysian crackdown

The group has courted controversy and strong government response since the protest rally that was declared illegal and forcibly dispersed by police using water cannons.
Hassan's statement came even as the high court here set aside a lower court's earlier decision to discharge three Hindraf leaders charged with sedition.
"We will not go soft on parties who want to threaten the nation's peace and stability," he was quoted. He added that the police would take more drastic measures should the security situation worsens.
The use of the stringent Internal Security Act (ISA), however, would be "as the last resort", he said in Johor Baru, the province adjoining Singapore.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has directed Hassan to probe Hindraf's terror links, particularly with Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Hassan's statement did not indicate whether the evidence pertained to Hindraf being 'extremist' or actually having terror links, a line that the Malaysian authorities have so far drawn, analysts said.
Hindraf has denied any links with the LTTE or any terror group, saying it was an alibi by the government to invoke draconian laws and mislead public opinion.
Prime Minister Badawi said: "If the choice is between public safety and public freedom, I do not hesitate to say here that public safety will always win.
"If I were to sign a detention order under ISA, I will do it without feeling any guilt because I have to do my duty," he said.
Hindraf claims to speak for the Indians, predominantly Tamil Hindus, who account for a two million plus population.
Over 400 NGOs have supported the government's crackdown on those involved in holding rallies.
Its coordinating chairperson Mohd Saiful Adil Daud told that the government had its full backing to do anything necessary under the law to curb illegal gatherings and defuse racial tension.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Malaysia detains Anwar, arrests Indian lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia on Tuesday detained de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and arrested a human rights lawyer and about a dozen opposition leaders, amid growing complaints the government was harassing opposition politicians.
Immigration officials detained former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim at the country's main airport upon returning from Istanbul via Singapore before being cleared for entry, his lawyer William Leong said.

"It's just a clear harassment," Anwar told Reuters. "It's a desperate attempt to harass and intimidate the public and deflect the attention from major issues of corruption among UMNO leaders and the judiciary."

UMNO is the United Malays National Organisation, Malaysia's main ruling party.
In the incident that lasted about half an hour, Anwar said he was stopped because his name was on immigration's "suspects list" although he was not informed why.
Anwar said he was allowed to leave after a senior immigration officer came out to speak to him, but his name remains on the list, which could bar him from leaving Malaysia.

"No grounds were given," Anwar's lawyer Leong said of the detention. "There appears to have been some note which put the official on alert to stop him from coming in and to detain him until he obtained approval from the superior."

Police on Tuesday arrested human rights lawyer P. Uthayakumar, who helped organise 10,000 ethnic Indians to protest last month against racial discrimination.
The 46-year-old Uthayakumar would be charged later on Tuesday for sedition for statements he made in a book, his aide said without elaborating.

In the Malaysian capital on Tuesday, dozens of policemen blocked the main entrance to the parliament building to foil an opposition-led rally demanding free and fair elections.

Riot police, armed with batons and shields and backed by a water cannon, took positions close to the parliament while vehicles passing through were checked.
Police arrested about a dozen opposition leaders, including the leader of Anwar's Keadilan (Justice) party, Tian Chua, after the car he was travelling in broke through a police cordon and headed toward parliament to hand over a memo demanding reforms in the electoral process.

Tian was arrested after he defied police orders to leave the car. Police then handcuffed and carried him out of the car before bundling him into a waiting police patrol car.

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