Group wants Anwar trial in Malay

Group wants Anwar trial in Malay

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): The decision by a judge to conduct the trial of Malaysia's chief dissident in English instead of the local language has drawn criticism, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Malaysian National Writers Association said in a statement that conducting Anwar Ibrahim's trial in English for the benefit of an international audience will mean "sacrificing the position and dignity of the Malay language".

The group called for a review of the decision, the New Straits Times daily said.

About half of the 22 million Malaysians speak Malay while the remaining speak Chinese dialects, Tamil and other regional languages.

On Monday, High Court Judge Augustine Paul ruled that the trial of Malaysia's former deputy premier be conducted in English "so that justice can be seen to be done".