Police use tear gas on Anwar protesters
Police use tear gas on Anwar protesters
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian police used a water cannon and tear gas Saturday to break up protests by hundreds of chanting supporters of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, witnesses said.
After an earlier clash at the national mosque, seven truckloads of riot police and a paramilitary platoon moved into a city center shopping area about one kilometer (0.6 miles) away to disperse about 500 protesters.
Police sealed off Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman and ordered shops to pull down shutters before charging a crowd which was shouting Reformasi (Reform), the rallying cry of the National Justice Party (Keadilan) founded by Anwar's wife.
A crowd of about 50 gathered in the street after police had left, shouting Allah-u Akhbar (God is Greater) and calling for reform.
"I am not here to be arrested but we are sick of this," said one woman. "We have no freedom to express our feelings in our country."
Hamid Mustaffa, the police director for internal security, told AFP that 48 people, including two women, had so far been detained for further investigations.
"The situation is under control but there are still batches of protesters around. We will continue to monitor the areas," he said.
A planned mass protest at 3 pm at the national mosque, to mark the first anniversary of Anwar's sentencing to six years' jail, failed to materialize amid a huge police clampdown.
Some 150 people shouting Reformasi at the mosque were chased away by police.
But trouble broke out at the mosque after evening prayers when some 100 people emerged shouting slogans. They were joined by sympathizers nearby.
Police sprayed the crowd of about 400 with water apparently laced with a pepper-like irritant.
Police and paramilitary forces carrying automatic weapons had poured into the city center from early Saturday to try to block the protest. Authorities say it is illegal because it does not have a police permit.
Police Friday arrested three leading members of Keadilan in a pre-emptive strike. They ordered four others, including vice- president Tian Chua, to report to them or face arrest.
In a drastic security operation, roadblocks were mounted on some highways into the capital. Police armed with M-16 rifles watched train stations to stop supporters arriving from outside and helicopters hovered overhead.
The charismatic Anwar, the head of the opposition Alternative Front alliance, was jailed for abuse of power and is now on trial for alleged sodomy.
Anwar, 52, says he is the victim of a high-level conspiracy because he intended to expose corruption and was seen as a political threat to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
The Alternative Front, in a statement issued before the street clashes, condemned the "heavy-handed tactics" by police. It said it was a "monstrous lie" that organizers and supporters were planning violence and riots.
"All that they were seeking to do was to express in a peaceful, democratic manner their unhappiness with the sentencing of Anwar a year ago," it said.
Mahathir, due to return to Malaysia Saturday night from the G77 summit in Cuba, had accused Keadilan of planning a riot. By curbing the right to public assembly, Mahathir's government showed it was an "authoritarian regime which attempts to camouflage its represession with a veneer of democratic forms," the opposition statement added.
Seven people, including Keadilan state leaders, were reportedly held in southern Malacca state Friday as they prepared to attend the protest.
Organizers had hoped to bring in supporters from across the country by train, light railway and bus.
Water cannon and tear gas were used to quell disturbances after Anwar was sentenced last April and to break up a pro-Anwar protest last September at the national mosque.