|
Wan Azizah To Lead "Black 14" Memorandum Day
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Kuala Lumpur remained tense on the eve of the "Black 14" gathering Saturday morning scheduled to continue despite a police clampdown on Malaysian government opponents.
The Malaysian opposition has said that Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of jailed leader Anwar Ibrahim, will lead a delegation of several Members of Parliament (MPs) which will submit a memorandum called the "people's memorandum" to the Malaysian Human Rights commission (SUHAKAM).
Police have warned that the gathering is illegal, but have not said whether they were opposed to the submission of the memorandum to SUHAKAM. Roadblocks and police checkpoints have been raised in some areas outside Kuala Lumpur in a bid to prevent pro-reformasi (reform) supporters to enter the capital city.
More than 1,000 police officers will be mobilized to monitor the major Kuala Lumpur arteries with more roadblocks expected around the city. Police trucks and personnel are expected to be in the vicinity of the office of the SUHAKAM very early in the morning.
More police officers in uniforms, or in plainclothes, will be assigned to train stations to make sure no reformasi supporters are able to carry anti-government banners or posters of the jailed leader to the site of the gathering.
The opposition alliance Alternative Front (AF) has backed the memorandum and has decided to participate fully in the event after arrests of several opposition leaders in a 24-hour period under the infamous Internal Security Act (ISA).
The police have said they have reason to believe that those arrested, mostly from the National Justice Party (NJP), were planning to hold violent protests Saturday and that the handing of the memorandum is an excuse to turn a large gathering of 50,000 people violent.
Malaysia's Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, and his deputy, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, as well police chief Norian Mai, have come under unprecedented criticism from virtually every cross-section of Malaysia's multi-ethnic society for using the ISA to clampdown on opponents.
On Thursday, the island of Penang's Gerakan (PGRM) vice-chairman Toh Kin Woon had said he disagreed with the recent detentions of seven opposition leaders under the ISA, saying that although the police had proof that the seven were going to commit an offence they still deserved a trial.
The Gerakan is a major component of the ruling National Front (NF). It controls the state of Penang and is the most vociferous group within the NF.
Several other Gerakan leaders have also voiced their opposition to the use of the ISA and have called for a review of the Act, which the opposition has called a "retrograde" law, pointing out that there was a need to ascertain whether its existence was crucial to secure peace and stability.
Gerakan women's chief, Kee Phaik Cheen, said the authorities concerned should see if ''we are still dependent on the Act to ensure peace and security in this multi-racial setting.''
Cheen said if Malaysians strongly felt that the ISA was no longer needed, ''then perhaps, the Act should be abolished if it has been ascertained that its existence is no longer crucial.''
Penang Gerakan vice-chairman Choong Sim Poey also disagreed with the use of the ISA, saying the seven reformasi activists should not be held ''continuously'' under the ISA, and instead be charged in court.
SUHAKAM chairman Musa Hitam also called on "Black 14" gathering organizers not to turn the event into an illegal assembly, and at the same time urged police to "exercise restraint" in maintaining peace and public order.
"In view of current developments, and the declared intention by the organizers to now turn tomorrow's handover event into a gathering at the SUHAKAM office, I would like to express SUHAKAM readiness to still accept the memorandum to be handed over now by a delegation of six MPs and four non-governmental representatives instead of the original delegation," said Musa in a media statement.
He said three commissioners have been assigned to receive the memorandum. He also urged those accompanying AF leaders to disperse peacefully immediately after the handover.
SUHAKAM is under extreme pressure to ask for a revision of the ISA. It has been asked by the families of those detained to seek their unconditional release and to press for more reforms in the laws of the country.
In a bid to put SUHAKAM in its real perspective, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad said that the police are responsible for the security of the country, not the SUHAKAM. He said this in response to the commission's call that the seven reformasi activists be immediately released.
The activists were arrested in an "expected" police crackdown early this week, sources close to the opposition said.
Reformasi websites, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), rights groups and the opposition have called on the Malaysian public to support the memorandum and to gather in large numbers on "Black 14" day.
They seven arrested are NJP deputy president Tian Chua, party Youth leaders Mohamed Ezam Mohamed Noor, N Gobalakrishnan, Abdul Ghani Harun, Free Anwar Campaign webmaster Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin, social activist cum malaysiakini columnist Hishamuddin Rais and "Black 14" organizer Saari Sungib.
The "Black 14" event marks the second anniversary of former deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's sentencing in 1998 for abuse of power.
|
