Malaysian Govt crackdown on Oppn leaders begins

"If more people commit offences, there will be more arrests," deputy prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told national news agency Bernama. "But it need not necessarily be all opposition people. Whoever it is, if he commits a wrong, will have to be punished."

Zulkifli Sulong, the editor of the newspaper of the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party, or PAS, appeared in court today to be charged with sedition for an article in Harakah on August 2, 1999, regarding the Anwar trial. The printer of thenewspaper was also to be charged with sedition.

The article carried a quote by Chandra Muzaffar, deputy president of the National Justice Party, in which he alleged there was a conspiracy planned by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in which the police, the attorney general’s office, the courts and local media would be used to destroy Anwar.

Sessions court judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil fixed bail at 5,000 ringgit ($ 1,315) and set Zulkifli’s trial for May 22.

"I am ready to defend myself and I am ready to face the consequences," Zulkifli told the AP after his court hearing. He faces three years in prison and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($ 1,315) if convicted.

Yesterday, Karpal Singh, who is Anwar’s lawyer and a longtime critic of the Mahathir administration, was arrested on charges of sedition for alleging in court last year that someone had tried to poison his client.