Mahathir defends harsh sentence

Wed, 08 Apr 1998, 00:00 WIB | Source: AP

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): An 18-month jail term for an opposition
member of Parliament has not undermined free speech and
democracy, said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

He stressed that justice should be meted out fairly to
opposition members as well as government politicians.

Last Wednesday, the Court of Appeals sentenced Lim Guan Eng,
deputy secretary-general of the Democratic Action Party and a
member of Parliament for 12 years, to an 18-month prison term for
publishing a pamphlet in 1995.

Lim questioned the government's decision not to press
statutory rape charges against Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik, a former
chief minister of Malacca state. He also questioned why the
schoolgirl was detained after the sex scandal broke, but not the
minister.

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