U.S., Canada criticize KL for jailing reporter

U.S., Canada criticize KL for jailing reporter

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): The United States and Canada
criticized Malaysia on Monday for imprisoning a foreign
journalist, but Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad brushed aside the
objections and accused the West of trampling on human rights.

The White House said U.S. President Bill Clinton was "deeply
concerned" about the jailing of Canadian journalist Murray
Hiebert for contempt of court.

"Putting a journalist in jail for doing his job undermines the
press freedoms that play such a critical role in building a
democratic society," the White House said in a statement released
in New Zealand where Clinton was attending an Asia-Pacific
summit.

Hiebert, Malaysia bureau chief for the Hong Kong-based Far
Eastern Economic Review, was taken to prison on Saturday after
the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier conviction for contempt of
court.

He was convicted of contempt over an article printed in
January 1997 which the plaintiff, the wife of a Court of Appeal
judge, said amounted to an attack on the judiciary.

Hiebert was the first journalist to be sent to jail in
Malaysia in the line of duty and the first journalist to be
jailed for contempt in a Commonwealth country in nearly 50 years.

"The decision of the Malaysian courts is outrageous," Canadian
Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy said on Monday at the New Zealand
regional summit.

A diplomat at the Canadian High Commission (embassy) in Kuala
Lumpur quoted Axworthy as saying Canada would be "looking very
seriously about what kind of action we can take".

The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists said: "Sending
Murray Hiebert to jail is an outrage."

Malaysia has been the target of stinging international
criticism for court decisions which critics say call into
question the protection of civil liberties.

The sentencing of former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim in
April to six years in jail for corruption spurred international
censure.

In a speech to more than 1,400 jurists from Commonwealth
nations meeting outside Kuala Lumpur, the head of the Malaysian
Bar, R.R. Chelvarajah, said on Monday that Malaysian courts had
drawn criticism in a number of recent cases.

"These comments should not be brushed aside," he said.

But minutes later, Mahathir climbed the same podium to defend
Malaysia's judiciary and launch a verbal attack on the Western
media, the World Trade Organization, currency traders, the
Internet, human rights groups and the United Nations.

Mahathir also criticized the permanent members of the UN
Security Council on Monday as "blatantly feudal and
undemocratic."

"It is ridiculous that this important world body is still
tethered to the results of the world war fought 50 years ago,"
Mahathir said.

The 73-year-old leader lashed out at the council members --
the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia, saying
their unwillingness to give up veto power made reform difficult.

"This undemocratic power may sit well with China and Russia
but the other three countries preach democracy ad nauseum," said
Mahathir, who has led Malaysia for 18 years.

"It does not become them to be blatantly feudal and
undemocratic in the United Nations when they so vehemently insist
that every country must be democratic."