‘Mahathir critics face 2 years in detention’

Press, 28 December 1987, Page 8

‘Mahathir critics face 2 years in detention’

NZPA-Reuter Kuala Lumpur Eighteen Malaysian Opposition leaders and academics held since October without trial under a security law will spend the next two years in prison, family and political sources said. The main Opposition Democratic Action Party told reporters that seven of its 16 top leaders had been sent to northern Kamunting detention camp for two years while two others had been released. All seven are members of Parliament. The others given extended detention by the Government were leaders of the fundamentalist Muslim Parti Islam seMalaysia, academics and critics of Government policy on religion and culture, a group monitoring detention developments told Reuters. “The incarceration of our leaders is most unjustified, a gross abuse of the Internal Security Act to stifle legitimate criticisms against the Government,” Democratic Action’s acting secretary-general, Lee Lam Thye, said. “We deny that our leaders had aroused racial sentiments ... The most unjustified thing about the detentions is that all those who were responsible for creating the tense situation right from the very outset were allowed to get away scot-

free,” he added. The Democratic Action leaders, including the secretary-general, Llm Kit Siang, were among more than 100 people arrested in the largest security crackdown in Malaysia in over a decade. The police said the arrests were aimed at reducing high racial tension. Allegations against Lim centred on his public criticism of the Government on language, cultural and religious Issues since 1983, according to a copy of his detention order signed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Mahathir Mohamad. Mr Mahathir had accused Democratic Action of fanning Chinese sentiment against his Malay-dominated Government when he justified the arrests in Parliament. Tension between Malays and Chinese had escalated before the crackdown over the appointment of teachers who did not speak Mandarin as headmasters at Chinese schools. Malays form just under half of Malaysia’s 16.5 million people and Chinese one third. Ethnic Indians and smaller groups make up the rest. The two main communities clashed in May, 1969, leaving hundreds killed in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. Mr Mahathir said Malaysia could not afford another race riot.