Malaysian activists protest 'prosecution' in Singapore
Malaysian activists protest 'prosecution' in Singapore
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Malaysian activists wearing black handkerchiefs over their faces protested outside the Singapore High Commission yesterday against the "persecution of political opposition" in Singapore.
About a dozen members of human rights groups Suaram and Aliran, carrying a banner reading, "Respect human rights in Singapore", picketed at the high commission for a half-hour, watched by a group of policemen.
The protesters said they wore handkerchiefs to keep from being identified by high commission staff, who were seen photographing and videotaping the demonstration.
The protest followed Malaysia's lukewarm acceptance Wednesday of Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's apology for making disparaging remarks about a Malaysian state in a court deposition on Jan. 27.
The deposition was part of Lee's libel case against Singaporean opposition politician Tang Liang Hong, who fled to Malaysia's Johor state after losing his parliamentary race in Jan. 2 elections, saying he had received death threats.
In the deposition, Lee questioned why Tang would feel safer in Johor, just across the Johor Strait from Singapore, which he said was "notorious for shootings, muggings and car-jackings".
Lee issued a statement on Monday saying he had instructed his lawyers to ask the court to delete the offending remarks from the record.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi said Malaysia welcomed Lee's move to withdraw the statement, but that "restoration of the old level of relationship would take time".
The Malaysian protesters said in a statement that the row over Lee's remarks "has distracted attention from the real issue -- the systematic persecution of those who dare to express opinions contrary to the PAP (Peoples Action Party) government."
It said the 13 libel suits that have been filed against Tang were not an isolated incident.
"Other political opponents of the PAP had been hounded out of the country. These include student leader Tan Wah Piow, former Solicitor General Francis Seow, former President Devan Nair and many others," the statement said.
The statement said the protest was in response to a group in Singapore "who have issued an appeal on the Internet calling for support in their campaign for justice".
Demonstrations are generally illegal in Malaysia, which still has emergency laws on the books barring assembly of more than five people.
Any sort of protest against a fellow ASEAN member -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- is rarely tolerated.
When Suaram and other activist groups tried to hold a conference on East Timor last November, a youth group allied to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's political party barged into the meeting hall and forced it to shut down.
The government had demanded the conference be canceled, saying it would hurt ties with neighboring Indonesia.
The Malaysian activists at the conference were arrested, along with several members of the youth group, and foreign participants were deported.