AHRC UA990316 Malaysia 16 March 1999
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION URGENT APPEAL
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Since September 1998 sacking of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, several hundred people have been arrested in connection with the series of demonstrations that have taken place.Thousands of Malaysians from all walks of life came into the streets to peacefully protest the corruptions and the injustices perpetrated by the government of the day. This form of protest had never before been seen in Malaysia. Many of those arrested have been charged in court.
There are a total of 8 batches of trials which will be conducted in the Magistrate Court. Of these, 3 have already started these include the Sri Perdana case 20 September 1998 , the KLCC case 15 November 1998 and the case involving 128 people arrested on 17 October 1998. The cases are arranged in following order according to trial dates:
A. 178 PEOPLE ARRRESTED AT KAMPUNG BARU ON 24 OCTOBER 1998. Charge with illegal assembly and rioting. Trial dates: 8 March – 8 April, 1999.
B. 9 PEOPLE ARRESTED AT SRI PERDANA ON 20 SEPTEMBER 1998. Charge with illegal assembly. Case heard from 4 – 8 January, 1999 and 1 March, 1999. Fresh dates: 10 March, 1999.
C. 1 person arrested when returning home from the site of demonstration at KAMPUNG BARU ON 18 NOVEMBER 1998. Charge with possession of a weapon. Trial: 11 March, 1999.
D. 4 PEOPLE ARRESTED AT KAMPUNG BARU ON 21 NOVEMBER 1998. Charge with illegal assembly. Trial dates: 16 and 17 March, 1999.
E. 5 PEOPLE ARRESTED AT BUKIT JALIL ON 21 SEPTEMBER 1998. Charge with illegal assembly. Trial dates: 23 and 24 March, 1999.
F. 126 PEOPLE ARRESTED AT DATARAN MERDEKA AND JALAN TAR ON 17 OCTOBER 1998. Charge with illegal assembly. Case heard from 2 – 26 February, 1999. Fresh dates: 26 April – 26 May, 1999.
G. 4 PEOPLE ARRESTED AT ISTANA ON 17 OCTOBER 1998. Charge with illegal assembly. Trial dates: 7 – 11 June, 1999.
H. 4 PEOPLE ARRESTED AT KLCC ON 15 NOVEMBER 1998*. Charge with illegal assembly. Case heard from 22 – 26 February, 1999. Fresh dates: 7 – 11 June, 1999.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
AHRC is very concerned by the frequent abuse of power by the police against citizens who legitimately express their dissent. We encourage you to write letter expressing support and solidarity to those individuals charged [OKTs] as well as the groups and organisations supporting them.
We encourage you to write appeal letters to the Attorney-General and the Home Minister, calling on him to drop the charges against the hundreds of people charged in the above mentioned cases. The people were exercising their right to freedom of expression in a peaceful manner which does not involve any loss of lives, injury and/or damage of public property or individual’s property.
Request the Attorney General and Home Minister to drop the charges as follows:
stop persecuting the citizens for their peacefully protest against corruptions and the injustices perpetrated by the government;
condemn the charges against legitimate expressions of dissent;
that the right to freedom of assembly and expression be respected
abolish the Internal security Act;
ratify the ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise; Thus, Malaysian government will uphold the rights of its citizen by ratifying and implementing the treaties.
SEND SOLIDARITY LETTERS TO:
OKTs (persons’ charged with \”illegal\” assembly], c/o Legal Aid Centre, Tingkat 6, Wisma Kraftangan, No. 9 Jalan Tun Perak, 50050 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah, Attorney General, Bangunan Bank Rakyat, Jalan Tangsi, 50732 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Dato Abdulah Badawi, Minister of Home Affairs, Jalan Dato’ Onn, 50502 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Faxes: 603 – 238 3784, 2984172,
CC COPIES OF APPEAL LETTER TO:
Mr. Kapil Sibal, Chair, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, c/o Centre for Human Rights, Palais des Nations, 8-14, avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva 10 , Switzerland, fax to: (41-22) 917.01.23, email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch
Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations, 42, Rue de Lausanne,1201, Geneva, Switzerland, Tel: (022)32-83-40, 32-10-77
and Diplomatic representatives of the Malaysia accredited to your country, especially to the following:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Embassy of Malaysia, 2401 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008., Tel: (1202) 328 2700, Fax: (1202) 483 7661
