Opposition parties lawless: Mahathir<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad accused
\nopposition parties Monday of lawlessness after 116 people were
\narrested in Malaysia's biggest anti-government protest for
\nmonths, but his opponents criticized police for using \"Gestapo\"
\ntactics.<\/p>\n
Police fired tear gas and chemically-laced water cannon Sunday
\nto break up the protest by supporters of jailed ex-deputy premier
\nAnwar Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
Police were seen attacking some detainees and at least one
\nofficer was assaulted by protesters.<\/p>\n
Mahathir, quoted by Bernama news agency, said the trend among
\nthe opposition was to break the law and invite action against
\nthem.<\/p>\n
When this happened they would inform their \"friends overseas\"
\nwho would in turn condemn the government for the alleged absence
\nof freedom, he said.<\/p>\n
Several thousand protesters on Sunday marched along a main
\nhighway after police declared their planned rally at a nearby
\nsite to be illegal and blocked access to the venue.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said Anwar's trial lasted one year and he was
\ndefended by nine of the country's best lawyers. \"And yet they
\n(overseas critics) still say there is no due process.<\/p>\n
\"We are a free country ... our laws are clear and we fully
\nabide by the law and still they say there is no due process,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Mahathir also criticized the resolution by seven U.S.
\ncongressmen calling for a new trial for Anwar.<\/p>\n
Anwar was sacked by Mahathir on Sept. 2, 1998 and arrested 18
\ndays later following mass anti-government rallies.<\/p>\n
In April 1999, he was jailed for six years for abuse of power
\nand in August this year was imprisoned for nine years for sodomy.
\nThe sentences will run consecutively.<\/p>\n
Anwar says Mahathir orchestrated a conspiracy to frame him on
\ncriminal charges because he was seen as a political threat. The
\ngovernment denies any plot and says courts are independent.<\/p>\n
Opposition party leaders at the protest, including Anwar's
\nwife Azizah Ismail, accused the police of over-reacting.<\/p>\n
Azizah, who is temporarily confined to a wheelchair, said
\nSunday that protesters had agreed to disperse peacefully before
\npolice advanced.<\/p>\n
\"I think they (police) were just trying to create disorder so
\nthe opposition would be blamed,\" she told AFP from the scene.<\/p>\n
Anwar's brother Rosli said his nephew Khairy suffered a
\nfractured skull from a tear gas canister while moving Azizah's
\nwheelchair out of danger Sunday. He was in a hospital intensive
\ncare unit.<\/p>\n
Syed Husin Ali, head of the Malaysian People's Party,
\ncondemned what he called \"Gestapo\" tactics by police and said
\nthey had beaten up some protesters and damaged vehicles.<\/p>\n
In a statement he said police had thrown tear gas canisters
\ninto a truck where about 40 detainees were being held.<\/p>\n
Syed Husin said Malaysia was becoming an authoritarian state.
\n\"Power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of one man who
\nis steadily showing signs of becoming a paranoid dictator,\" he
\nsaid in reference to Mahathir.<\/p>\n
Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the Democratic Action Party,
\ncondemned the attack on the police officer but said police over-
\nreacted to the situation in a \"trigger-happy and callous\" way.<\/p>\n
The 116 detainees were being held in a police station parking
\nlot and had not been allowed to see lawyers as of mid-afternoon
\nMonday, one lawyer said.<\/p>\n
Police, who have wide powers to ban any gathering, have said
\nthose attending the rally could be jailed for up to a year.<\/p>\n
National police chief Norian Mai said late Sunday he did not
\nrule out the arrest of opposition leaders. \"We will investigate
\nthe extent of their involvement in the illegal gathering before
\ntaking any action,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/opposition-parties-lawless-mahathir-1447893297",
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