Mahathir defends harsh sentence

Wed, 08 Apr 1998 | 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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