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Malaysia Opposition Politician Released From Jail

Date: 25 Aug 1999
Time: 21:55:13
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Malaysia Opposition Politician Released From Jail Full Coverage Malaysia Political News

By K. Baranee Krishnaan

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian opposition leader walked free from jail Wednesday after serving a one-year term for sedition and was greeted by political allies hoping his release will galvanize a disparate opposition in elections.

Lim Guan Eng, leader of the youth wing of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), was released from Kajang prison outside the capital Kuala Lumpur shortly after daybreak, his father, parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, told Reuters.

``He has been released,'' Lim Kit Siang said by telephone from a hotel near the prison where his son was taken after being released.

Several hundred activists from Malaysia's four main opposition parties gathered outside the prison, waving flags, party banners and balloons, and shouting ``reformasi'' (reform), the slogan of jailed former Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Lim Guan Eng was convicted in 1997 for publishing in 1995 a pamphlet, entitled ``Ceramah Kisah Benar'' (The True Story), which criticised the government's handling of allegations of statutory rape against a former state chief minister.

An appeals court later upheld the ruling and imposed two concurrent 18-month prison terms. He was released on good behavior after completing two thirds of the term, but is barred from running for public office for five years from his release.

Lim Guan Eng's conviction was condemned by rights groups and opposition leaders. London-based Amnesty International called the charges against him ``politically motivated, designed to intimidate dissenting voices.''

The four main opposition parties, divided by ideology, see Lim Guan Eng and Anwar as unifying symbols in general elections which must be held by June but are expected before the end of the year.

Neither Lim Guan Eng nor Anwar, who is serving a six-year jail term for corruption and standing trial for sodomy, will be able to run in the next election.

But their cases have stirred debate over political freedoms in Malaysia, ruled since 1981 by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

In February, a global rights watchdog said prison conditions faced by Lim Guan Eng were ``cruel, inhuman or degrading.'' The government dismissed the allegation.

Leaders of the four main opposition parties -- DAP, Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party) led by Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the Islamic fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) and Parti Rakyat Malaysia -- planned to stage a joint rally later in the day with Lim Guan Eng as the main speaker.

PAS's Islamic fundamentalist stance does not sit well with many urban Chinese who support Lim Guan Eng's DAP. Wan Azizah's Parti Keadilan has struggled to shake off the image that it mainly represents the interests of disgruntled Malays.

Keadilan leaders have said Lim Guan Eng could help bring together ethnic Chinese and Malays in the opposition.

Lim Guan Eng recently described himself as ``a Chinese MP going to jail for helping a Malay victim'' and accused Mahathir's coalition of failing to stand up to women's rights.

Mahathir's multi-ethnic Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957.


Last changed: August 25, 1999