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Malaysia wonders where democracy went wrong |
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April 17, 2000
KUALA LUMPUR, APR 16 (AP) - The police sirens were shrieking for hours as security forces beat, handcuffed and dragged supporters of jailed Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim across the capital's Independence Square.
The "Black 14th" had been intended as a peaceful rally to mark the first anniversary of Anwar's conviction on Saturday. It turned into a melee of clashes between the demonstrators and police.
With dozens of demonstrators now under arrest, Malaysia's embattled opposition was left pondering its chances for survival and struggling to regroup.
"We're living in dark times," Anwar's wife, Azizah Ismail, told The Associated Press by telephone on Sunday. "We've lost the democratic right to assemble peacefully."
Azizah, who heads the opposition National Justice Party, said the recurring standoffs between protesters and police in the Malaysian capital were "alarming displays of police insolence."
Opposition leaders and local human rights groups have condemned police for storming the National Mosque and firing water cannons at hundreds of people on a balcony chanting, "God is great."
Scores of police also launched tear gas and pursued demonstrators down alleys in downtown Kuala Lumpur. The people had been shouting for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to step down after nearly 19 years in power.
By midnight, 48 people were in jail cells, facing criminal charges for illegal assembly. Another 10 people had been arrested earlier, including key leaders of the Justice Party.
Tian Chua, the party's vice-president who organized the demonstrations, told the AP by telephone that armed policemen suddenly surrounded and arrested him on Sunday during his lunch at a Kuala Lumpur shopping mall.
Police refused to allow Chua's lawyer, Cheah Kah Ping, to accompany him to the police station. When Cheah protested, he too was arrested.
Mahathir late Saturday said he approved of the massive police operation, insisting that Malaysians would lose out if street protests continued to flare.
"If there are demonstrations, those who suffer would include the traders, especially petty traders who depend on their daily earnings to survive," Mahathir said.
Some of these street traders disagreed with Mahathir, Asia's longest-serving ruler.
One shopkeeper, who hid several protesters being chased by police armed with assault rifles on Saturday, said he was more afraid of the policemen than of any demonstrations.
Local human rights group Suaram accused police of bringing Kuala Lumpur to a standstill and intimidating scores of journalists who covered the demonstrations.
"The city appears to have turned into a police state," said Suaram spokesman S. Arutchelvan. "The police and the government should be blamed for disrupting the peace and harmony."
The opposition on Sunday alleged that many potential demonstrators had been scared off by repeated police warnings throughout the week.
Chua, the Justice Party's vice-president, said before his arrest that police took "extraordinary" steps by blocking highways into Kuala Lumpur and cordoning railway stations.
That reportedly shut out thousands of Anwar's supporters from outside the capital who still believe that the former deputy prime minister is a symbol of government injustice.
Anwar was sacked by Mahathir in September 1998, arrested and charged with corruption. A High Court judge convicted him in April last year and sentenced him to six years in jail.
Anwar is now on trial on charges of sodomy, a crime in predominantly Muslim Malaysia, and faces another 20 years imprisonment if convicted. He insists Mahathir and other government leaders framed him to quash his chances of becoming prime minister.
"Anwar remains proof of so many things that are wrong with our government," Chua said.
Chua says the opposition plans to rally again this Friday in the northern Kedah state and march to the state sultan's palace to submit a memorandum calling for Mahathir to step down.
Religious clergy close to the opposition sneaked in a similar document to Malaysia's king on Saturday, Chua said.
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