KL opposition party official jailed for illegal assembly
KL opposition party official jailed for illegal assembly
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A leading member of Malaysia's main
opposition party was jailed for a month on Thursday after
refusing to pay a fine for illegal assembly.
"I refuse to make any payment to the oppressive regime of Dr
Mahathir," Mahfuz Omar was quoted by his lawyer as saying in
reference to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Lawyer Zulkifli Noordin, who represented Mahfuz and three
other members of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), told AFP they
had denied illegal assembly in respect of an anti-Israeli
demonstration in April 1997.
The protest was against a planned visit by an Israeli cricket
team to Malaysia, where just over half the population are
Muslims.
Zulkifli said all four were convicted and fined 1,500 ringgit
($395), with one month's jail in default. They refused to pay the
fine or to appeal.
Zulkifli quoted Mahfuz, who is a member of parliament and PAS
youth wing chief, as saying he refused to appeal, "having no
confidence in the judiciary."
The lawyer said Mahfuz had been praying at the mosque when the
peaceful protest began and he did not organize the gathering.
Police have wide powers to declare any gathering illegal.
It was not clear why the case took three years to be settled.
Mahfuz, a fiery orator, took part in a major protest Sunday in
support of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim. Police broke
up the demonstration with tear gas, batons and water cannon and
arrested 125 people.
Some 26 of those arrested alleged they were beaten up by
police.
It was a "parade of swollen limbs, brown shirts tainted with
dried blood, cracked bones, swollen faces, lacerations, truncheon
marks and heavily bandaged heads," said defense lawyer N.
Surendran.
On Wednesday Mahfuz told parliament that many protesters were
injured and one almost blinded when tear gas was fired at point-
blank range.
He handed over a photograph and videotape to the deputy
speaker.
Wednesday's debate ended on a heated note. Government MP
Shahziman Abu Mansor challenged Mahfuz to a fist-fight outside
parliament, according to newspaper reports Thursday, but
colleagues cooled the situation down.