*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
{ Sila lawat Laman Hizbi-Net - http://www.hizbi.net }
{ Hantarkan mesej anda ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED] }
{ Iklan barangan? Hantarkan ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] }
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even as home minister and prime ministerial wannabe Abdullah Badawi was
cornered and forced
to utter the phrase "law of the jungle" popularised by his jailed predecessor
Anwar Ibrahim,
worldwide condemnations continue to pour in over the crackdown on free speech
and democracy
launched on January 12.
"Our country has laws ... not the law of the jungle," replied Abdullah when
asked to comment on
the United States' concern over the recent spate of arrests, hours after prime
minister Mahathir
Mohamad hurriedly left for a vacation abroad.
Days before his arrests in September 1998, Anwar warned that Malaysia's concept
of rule of law
was increasingly heading to that of "law of the jungle".
The United States government on January 15 said it was "deeply concerned" by
the crackdown,
which it described as a "cynical attempt" to intimidate opponents.
"We share widely expressed concerns that these arrests are a transparent and
cynical attempt to
intimidate government opponents and stifle legitimate political discourse,"
said US State
Department spokesman James Foley
Foley said the US will be closely monitoring the sedition cases.
"The cases of these individuals will be closely watched, both within Malaysia
and throughout the
world, particularly with a view to whether they receive impartial treatment
with due process of the
law in fair and open proceedings.
"We call on the government of Malaysia to protect internationally recognized
rights of free speech
and political expression."
In Paris, the French-based media organisation, World Association of Newspapers,
which
represents more than 17,000 publications in 93 countries, has joined other
international groups in
expressing "serious concern at the harassment" of Malaysian media.
In a letter to Mahathir, its president Bengt Braun called for charges against
Harakah editor Zulkifli
Sulong to be dropped.
"We respectfully call on you to ensure that all newspapers are permitted to
circulate freely in
Malaysia and that the Printing Press and Publications Act is not used as a
mechanism for
suppressing critical opinion," he urged.
Copies of the letter was also sent to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and UNESCO Director-General
Koichiro
Matsuura.
In London, international human rights group Amnesty International condemned the
government
for using "selective prosecution" to silence outspoken critics.
"Amnesty International has long believed that the continued existence of an
array of restrictive laws
in Malaysia, many unable to be challenged in court, poses a grave threat to
fundamental rights of
freedom," it said.
"The organisation fears that the safeguards designed to prevent the authorities
from using such laws
to initiate selective prosecution for political purposes have been
fundamentally weakened."
Amnesty noted that government and opposition figures had made public statements
that could be
interpreted as potentially seditious but only opposition members had been
charged.
"Charging political leaders and journalists with sedition threatens to strike
at the heart of free
speech in a democratic society," it said. "When such prosecution appears to
fall solely on
opposition figures, public confidence in the rule of law risks being seriously
undermined."
Amnesty warned that the courts may not adequately defend the freedom of
expression under the
Malaysian constitution and international law.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Bar Council, which has been silent in the wake of the
crackdown, said
it would not hold any special meeting to discuss the "sedition" charges brought
against Anwar's
defence lawyer Karpal Singh.
Its chairman R Chelvarajah said the council does not plan any form of protests
to register their
concerns but would opt to "use the courts".
"We will use the rule of law to demonstrate our independence," he said.
Fifty three lawyers had filed a petition to the council, asking for a special
meeting. Lawyer P.
Uthayakumar who initiated the petition for the special assembly, said Karpal's
prosecutors had
showed total disregard for the Legal Profession Act. The act allows lawyers to
carry out their
duties without fear or favour.
The Bar Council, until recently an outspoken critic of the government's
continued harrassment of
lawyers, had recently made a "reconciliatory" gesture with the government.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
( Melanggan ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body : SUBSCRIBE HIZB)
( Berhenti ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body: UNSUBSCRIBE HIZB)
( Segala pendapat yang dikemukakan tidak menggambarkan )
( pandangan rasmi & bukan tanggungjawab HIZBI-Net )
( Bermasalah? Sila hubungi [EMAIL PROTECTED] )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pengirim: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
