Dissident leader Anwar Ibrahim to face open trial

Dissident leader Anwar Ibrahim to face open trial

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysian authorities announced on
Thursday the country's dissident leader Anwar Ibrahim would soon
go on open trial where the world could see he was safe and sound.

Trying to combat a growing image problem for Malaysia abroad,
authorities denounced reporting of the past week's unrest and
said foreign news organizations would not be allowed to use the
state-owned broadcaster to transmit "negative stories".

There was no letup in the security clampdown on the nation of
22 million people with Malaysia's police chief Abdul Rahim Noor
warning forces would take tough action to stop protests against
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad's 17-year-old rule.

"We will come down hard on them," Rahim Noor told a news
conference when asked what the police would do if there was
another protest in Merdeka (Freedom) Square.

"He (Anwar) is safe and sound, not to worry. He is within our
custody. There will be a fair trial, that's our system. It's an
open court, very much a British system," Rahim Noor said.

Anwar has not been seen in public since he was arrested on
Sunday night after leading a demonstration through the capital.
His wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, has expressed concern over his
health and said she fears he might be injected with the virus
that causes AIDS to support allegations he committed sodomy.

Anwar is being held under the Internal Security Act, which
permits indefinite detention without trial, but has not been
indicted.

Rahim Noor said the former cabinet minister would be charged
soon, but he declined to elaborate.

Mahathir on Thursday brushed off allegations of widespread
corruption and cronyism by Anwar. The veteran leader fired a new
attack on the western media following the release of an Anwar
video, saying Malaysia was powerless to counter reports about the
country.

Asked about allegations of corruption and cronyism by Anwar in
a video made before his arrest on Sunday, Mahathir told a news
conference: "Yes, of course. I'm remaining in power because of my
crony(ism) and family.

"And you are free to air this every half an hour because you
own the media and you can tell lies to the whole world and
influence the whole world against us," Mahathir said, referring
to CNBC Asia, the Singapore-based business news broadcaster,
which showed the video.

Anwar's wife, Azizah, who has said she has taken over her
husband's protest movement, is under investigation by police for
sedition and inciting hatred among Malaysians for her AIDS
comments.

For the first time, police on Thursday prevented reporters
from entering Anwar's compound, where more than a dozen police
were posted, blocking both front and back entrances.

Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang called the clampdown on
Anwar's residence "unfair, undemocratic and another example of
excessive use of force or abuse of the existing laws".

Rahim Noor criticized the foreign media for its portrayal of
political strife in one of the world's largest commodity
exporters.

Information Minister Mohamed Rahmat said apart from banning
foreign news organizations from using state-owned broadcaster RTM
to transmit images relating to Anwar, he was considering several
other options to counter "negative reports" by the foreign press.

The Malaysian government's anger was not just directed against
the foreign press.

Malaysia has made an official protest against remarks by
Australian Prime Minister John Howard who had said he was
concerned over an apparent drift "towards an authoritarian
approach" in Malaysia.

Malaysian officials were also understood to be unhappy at
remarks by Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong who has said
the events in Malaysia had created political uncertainty that
could dampen investor confidence in the region.