[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 25 Aug 1999
Time: 21:58:17
Remote User: -
Crowd Mobs Malaysia Opposition Leader Outside Jail Full Coverage Malaysia Political News
By K. Baranee Krishnaan
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Shouting anti-government slogans and beating drums, about 5,000 political activists Wednesday greeted a Malaysia opposition leader as he walked free from jail after serving a one-year term for sedition.
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 and later mobbed by allies hoping he can galvanize a disparate opposition in polls.
``I am most touched by this rousing welcome for me this morning,'' said Guan Eng, carried on the shoulders of supporters and wearing garlands of flowers around his neck. Among the boisterous crowd outside the prison was Guan Eng's father and parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.
``Although I was jailed for one year, it's obvious that the spirit of Malaysians has not dissipated,'' said Guan Eng, looking cheerful and healthy but a bit underweight.
As he spoke, excited activists shouted ``reformasi'' (reform), the rally cry of supporters of jailed former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, and released balloons carrying a banner bearing Lim Guan Eng's name into the sky.
Police presence was light and there were no incidents.
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.
Guan Eng's conviction was condemned by rights groups and opposition leaders. London-based Amnesty International called the charges against him ``politically motivated.''
Leaders from the four main opposition parties embraced Guan Eng. Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who created the opposition Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party) earlier this year, was not present. She was expected to attend a joint opposition rally with Guan Eng later in the day.
In a symbol of the opposition's struggle to bridge ethnic differences, musicians and dancers from the nation's three main racial groups -- Malay, Chinese and Indian -- performed.
The four main opposition parties, divided by ideology, see Guan Eng and Anwar as unifying symbols in elections which must be held by June but are expected before the end of the year.
Neither 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.
Keadilan leaders have said Guan Eng could help bring together ethnic Chinese and Malays in the opposition.
``I'm not a Malay chauvinist nor a Chinese chauvinist. I am a Malaysian,'' Lim Guan Eng told the crowd.
``I have been in prison twice. I am willing to go to prison again to defend the faith of Malaysians. I feel I would not really be free until all the Malaysians imprisoned wrongly are freed, especially Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.''