News on Malaysia : AFP: Prominent I

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>AFP: Prominent Indonesian group supports Malaysia's Anwar  Ibrahim (fw)
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>Indonesian group supports Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim
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>     JAKARTA, Sept 23 (AFP) - An Indonesian group headed by a prominent
>lawyer and human rights activist Wednesday urged others to lend their
>support to detained former Malaysian deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.
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>Lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution said a new committee of Indonesian Solidarity
>for Anwar Ibrahim (Komiter Sianwar) has been set up after Anwar's arrest on
>Sunday and was based on the principle of "Innocent until Proven Guilty."
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>"The committee cares because the struggle for democracy in the world is
>everyone's cause," Nasution told a press conference at the Indonesian Legal
>Aid Institute here.
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>"Anwar Ibrahim is close to our activists and any way we can help, either
>through prayer, sympathy or moral support, is needed and appreciated," he
>added.
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>Pro-democracy activists in Malaysia were faced with great challenges such
>as the arbitrary Internal Security Act (ISA,) which allows the state to
>hold anyone indefinitely without trial, he said.
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>"ISA is more cruel than Indonesia's subversion law," he added, referring to
>the law often used during the rule of ex-president Suharto to clamp down on
>opposition movements.
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>The group issued a press release signed by some 30 founders which included
>noted Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid, Moslem intellectual Nurcholis Majid,
>as well as vice chairman of the Indonesian National Commission on Human
>rights Marzuki Darusman.
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>The LBH chairman Bambang Wijoyanto and several leading economists and human
>rights activists were also on the list of founders.
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>"We call on all Indonesian people who are willing to fight for truth and
>justice in Malaysia to contact us and join the Komiter Sianwar," the
>release said.
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>Nasir Tamara, a member of the Indonesian Association of Moslem
>Intellectuals, said he had spoken recently with Anwar by telephone who told
>him he was seeking Indonesians' support to uphold democracy and human
>rights value in Malaysia.
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>Anwar, once said to be a potential successor to current Prime Minister
>Mahathir Mohamad, was arrested Sunday at his residence and is facing
>charges of immoral conduct and threatening national security.
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>"Anwar said to me that Mahathir won't compromise anymore and is getting
>autocratic by days," Tamara said, adding that Anwar felt that the local
>media in Malaysia was very "unsupportive" of him.
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>Anwar, who had been attracting tens of thousands of supporters with his
>"reformasi" rallies, will soon face court to answer charges of sexual
>misconduct, Mahathir has said.
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>"Reformasi", the Indonesian and Malay word for Reform, was the battle cry
>of students and activists during the turbulent period in Indonesia that led
>to the resignation of president Suharto in May.
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>"Mahathir is now the longest-serving leader in Asia and he does not want to
>be ousted like Suharto was. But there is no way he can go against the
>current of 'reformasi'," Tamara said.
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>After the press conference Tamara and Nasution led some 100 people to
>protest Anwar's arrest at the Malaysian embassy here.
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>Holding banners saying "Mahathir equals Suharto," "Free Malaysian people
>from Mahathir's dictatorial regime," the demonstrators also yelled "Free
>Anwar!" in front of the closed gate of the embassy in South Jakarta.
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>The protestors, wearing white headbands inscribed with "Free Anwar," in the
>Indonesian language, dispersed peacefully after embassy staff met with
>their representatives and they handed over a copy of the press release.
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