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Anwar Supporters Hit Streets A Year After Sacking

Date: 07 Sep 1999
Time: 22:48:12
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Anwar Supporters Hit Streets A Year After Sacking

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Supporters of jailed former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim returned to the streets Saturday to protest against his treatment by authorities just over a year after his sacking from government.

Some 300 people converged on a shopping mall in the capital, shouting the ``reformasi'' (reform) battle cry of Anwar and carrying banners denouncing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Police yanked the banners from their hands and dispersed them after they demonstrated for about 30 minutes before a huge Saturday afternoon crowd.

Some 10 police trucks and two vehicles carrying water laced with chemicals stood on guard at the capital's Freedom (Merdeka) Square about a mile away, in case the protestors regrouped there.

The square is opposite the capital's High Court where Anwar was sentenced in April to six years in jail for corruption and was the scene of earlier pro-Anwar demonstrations.

Anwar was sacked as finance minister and deputy prime minister on September 2, 1998, and later indicted on corruption and sex charges.

He denies all the charges, saying he was framed by associates of Mahathir after he clashed with the premier. Mahathir said his former protege was sacked for his low morals.

Anwar is currently on trial for allegedly sodomising his family's former driver and faces four more similar charges involving other men.


Last changed: September 07, 1999