Malaysian opposition to defy ban on meetings

Malaysian opposition to defy ban on meetings

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysia's main opposition party vowed yesterday to press ahead with public meetings despite an apparent crackdown by police which led to the arrest of four members.

"We expect more trouble but we will continue having more of such meetings," Democratic Action Party (DAP) deputy secretary general Lim Guan Eng told reporters at the party's headquarters on the outskirts of the capital.

Lim and three other DAP members were arrested by police late on Wednesday at a political meeting which authorities had banned. The four were released early yesterday morning without being charged.

Police detained Lim, son of DAP secretary general Lim Kit Siang and a member of parliament, after he addressed about 2,000 political supporters outside a restaurant in Petaling Jaya town, witnesses said.

Lim's supporters scuffled with police, some of whom had helmets, shields and batons, before he and the three others were taken away to local police headquarters.

"If the government wants to ban political meetings, it must say so instead of doing it in a cowardly manner," Lim said yesterday.