Malaysia Cracks Down, Again

On the first anniversary of the sentencing of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, some 200 Malaysians gathered peacefully at the National Mosque today, but were quickly dispersed by riot police wielding batons and bamboo canes.
We were doing nothing -- just sitting around, said one protester who asked not to be named. They asked us to leave in a very threatening manner. There were no speeches, no banners, no chants except for Allahu Akbar (God is great). How wrong can that be? They took photos of each of us. Several protesters said they were unhappy that the police ran into the mosque without removing their shoes, as required by Islamic custom.Elsewhere in the city, riot police fired tear gas and chased several hundred protesters into side alleys and department stores. They just disappeared into the normal shopping crowds, who seemed largely supportive, said TIME's Kuala Lumpur reporter Ken Stier. Nobody was helping the police by shouting, 'They went thataway.'

Dozens of people were arrested at the National Mosque and in surrounding streets. This is supposed to be a sanctuary for Muslims, said one middle-aged protester as he hurried to escape the water cannon. This is supposed to be our last refuge -- and they even come in here. There is no excuse.

Yesterday three senior leaders of the National Justice Party were arrested in relation to the planning of the gathering. Information chief Ruslan Kassim, youth chief Mohammad Ezam Noor and youth deputy secretary N. Gobala Krishnan remain in custody. Four other party executives have been ordered to surrender to police but remain at large.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who replaced Anwar early last year, said the police action was to maintain the peace. They [the organizers] always claim that such assemblies are peaceful, but past experiences have shown this is not true, he told the local press. This is because there are certain groups which become emotional and rowdy.

A police helicopter hovered above the mosque for most of the afternoon, while police held salivating German Shepherds on long leashes. The Constitution says we have a right to gather and it is a basic human right, said K.S. Lee, 43, a freelance editor and a member of the pro-Anwar National Justice Party. This is against the principles of democracy.

The protesters included former Supreme Court Lord President Tun Salleh Abas, who was removed from office, along with two other Supreme Court judges, in 1988. I'm here because Mahathir has placed the executive above the other two branches of government, the elderly Abas told TIME. I'm here because I love my country.

Other demonstrators put it more bluntly. We have no freedom to speak out, said engineer Jasmin, 46, a mother of eight who wears a waist-length Muslim headscarf. They control the media, they control the police, they control the judiciary. Now we can't even say 'reformasi.' In the mosque one girl said the word and was taken away (by police).

Over the past few days there has been an unusually large police presence on the streets of the capital, as well as road blocks and searches of travelers boarding Kuala Lumpur-bound trains and buses in various parts of the country. A lot of people were frightened away, said political scientist Chandra Muzaffar, deputy president of the National Justice Party. Otherwise the number of protesters would certainly have been in the thousands.

Muzaffar echoed the comments of several demonstrators, saying that disaffection with the Mahathir government goes beyond the arrest, police beating and jailing of the former Deputy Prime Minister. In Malaysia there is a growing discrepancy between law and justice, he said. This is a democracy in a formal legal sense, but look at the controls that are placed on people.

Under Malaysian law, it is a criminal offense for five or more people to assemble in a public place without a police permit. Asked why his party had gone ahead with calls for today's rally without applying for such a permit, Muzaffar replied that past applications have consistently been rejected by the police.

One year ago, Anwar was sentenced to six years in prison for obstructing the course of justice. He is currently on trial on further charges that allege sexual crimes. The former Deputy Premier and Finance Minister claims he is the victim of a political conspiracy stemming from disagreements between himself and Mahathir over economic policy and other matters.

With reporting by Ken Stier/Kuala Lumpur