KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 (AFP) - International human rights groups and media watchdogs Thursday condemned the arrests of four Malaysian opposition figures on sedition charges. They accused Malaysia of violating international laws with the use of "strong-arm tactics to silence its critics," and pressed for the charges to be dropped.
National Justice Party vice-president Marina Yusof and Democratic Action Party (DAP) deputy chairman Karpal Singh surrendered to police Wednesday after arrest warrants were issued under the Sedition Act. Similar warrents were served on Zulkifli Sulong, editor of the Harakah newspaper owned by Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), and the paper's publisher Chia Lim Thye. All four were released on bail.
Deputy Premier and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the arrests followed a thorough police investigation, the New Straits Times reported.
He denied the action amounted to suppression of free speech, saying: "In our country, anyone can say what they want about anything but there are also laws. It is necessary for us to respect the law. Sovereignty of the law is important. That is the meaning of freedom. There is no such thing in the world of having freedom without laws."
The New York-based Lawyers Committee for Human Rights said the sedition charge against Karpal, a lawyer for jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, related to remarks he made last year during Anwar's sodomy trial.
"Malaysia has again resorted to strong-arm tactics to silence its critics, rather than playing by the rules of international law," Robert Varenik, director of the Lawyer's Committee's Protection Program, said in a statement.
He said Karpal was the second Anwar lawyer to be punished for critical comments in a legal proceeding following Zainur Zakaria who was charged with contempt for alleging prosecutors tried to fabricate evidence.
"This arrest is another in a series of attacks against lawyers willing to represent disfavored clients like Anwar," Varenik said. "This type of action illustrates the government's unwillingness to play by the rules of free speech and access to lawyers enshrined in international law."
The Malaysian rights group SUARAM feared the arrests signaled the "beginning of a bigger crackdown on opposition and political activists," and showed the government's "utter intolerance for criticisms from any quarters."
Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieries said the sedition charge against Zulkifli "constitutes a further step in the government's policy of gagging the opposition press." It urged a fair trial for Zulkifli and said a jail sentence or heavy fine "would be a serious infringement of press freedom."
The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was "deeply concerned" with the arrests of Zulkifli and Chia for publishing a report last August criticizing the government's handling of Anwar's sodomy trial.
In a letter to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, CPJ executive director Ann Cooper noted the action came shortly after the Home Affairs Ministry warned their biweekly newspaper could not be sold to the general public.
Local journalists feared the arrests "could signal the start of a broad crackdown against those who question the policies and practices of your administration," she said. CPJ viewed the arrests as "yet another assault on the fundamental principles of press freedom."
Prosecution of Zulkifli and Chia would send "a message of intolerance that would surely chill the climate for independent journalism in Malaysia."
