Malaysian police to charge Anwar fo

[dohrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The Malaysian political and economic situation has become extremely tense.
Anwar has been pushing for political reform, and tens of thousands of
Malaysians have flocked to hear him speak in recent days.  There are
certain obvious implications for the struggle in Burma, but comments by
analysts are welcome.

LD

  Ê 
      Malaysian police to charge Anwar for public gatherings

      Wed 16 Sep 98 - 04:02 GMT 

      KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 (AFP) - Malaysian police plan to press charges
against
      ousted deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim for holding public
gatherings without
      permission, newspapers reported Wednesday.

      The newspapers said Police Inspector-General Rahim Noor had also
confirmed the
      arrests of two associates of Anwar and plans to detain a third.

      Rahim was quoted as saying that Anwar's public gatherings since his
dismissal two
      weeks earlier had contravened the law and that action would be
taken.

      "Being a former cabinet minister, he should know better than to set
a bad example. We
      will take legal action against him if he flouts the law," Rahim was
quoted as saying in
      The Star newspaper.

      Rahim also told reporters to "be patient" when they asked if Anwar
would be arrested in
      connection with various allegations against him ranging from sexual
impropriety to
      sedition, the New Straits Times reported.

      Asked about Anwar and his aides seeking refuge in his house, The Sun
quoted Rahim
      as saying: "Anwar is not immune from any legal process in the
country. Even if they
      flee abroad, we will track them down with the help of Interpol."

      Rahim meanwhile confirmed that a Pakistani acquaintance of Anwar had
been detained
      under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) and that a former
private secretary had
      been remanded in custody to assist police investigations.

      He added that police would also seek a court order on Wednesday or
Thursday for
      another private secretary who "refused to come after being called up
by police" as part
      of their investigations. "This amounts to an offence," he said.

                                                                  ©AFP
1998




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