The South China Morning Post, HK 13th April 2001

Mahathir under fire for backing 'fairy tale' that opposition members planned to use explosives in protest

AGENCIES in Kuala Lumpur

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday defended the detention without trial of seven opposition activists, saying police had evidence they planned to use explosives during violent protests.

But opposition leaders accused the Government of telling "fairy tales" to thwart a "growing anti-Mahathir sentiment" and to divert attention from the country's economic slowdown.

And in anticipation of further criticism, Dr Mahathir said: "The foreign media will bash at us. They have never said anything [good] about us even if we are very nice. So we have a duty to the people, our country. They can go and fry their faces."

The Government has said it will check what is written on Malaysia and respond more strongly to stories it sees as wrong.

Dr Mahathir said the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows indefinite detention without trial, was used against supporters of his jailed former deputy Anwar Ibrahim to forestall a mass rally tomorrow.

"The police have decided we are not going to deal with this huge demonstration on so-called Black 14th April," Dr Mahathir told reporters at a technology park south of Kuala Lumpur. "They [the police] have evidence that there are plans to use explosives and the like, so we do not want that to happen before we take any action."

Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai said on Wednesday that Anwar supporters had previously tried to get weapons, influence former military personnel and recruit martial arts experts.

Anwar, who was sacked by Dr Mahathir 2.5 years ago, is serving 15 years for sex and graft crimes he says were fabricated to thwart his political challenge to the prime minister. Tomorrow is the second anniversary of the first guilty verdict handed down to Anwar.

Lim Kit Siang, leader of the Democratic Action Party, a member of the opposition front, denounced the police statement as one of the "most bizarre and shameful events" in the history of the police and completely without substantiation.

"Right-thinking Malaysians as well as international observers are entitled to ask whether Norian Mai is concocting or narrating a fairy tale unless he could come out with full substantiation of his tall story," he said in a statement.

Dr Mahathir, who describes Anwar as immoral and unfit to rule, said legitimate opposition was accepted as long as it stuck to democratic means, whereas mass protests posed security risks.

"Such demonstrations invariably result in violence and we don't know what kind of damage can be done," he said.

Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon last November at some 5,000 pro-Anwar demonstrators they prevented from gathering at a stadium south of Kualar Lumpur. There have been no major protests in or around the capital since.

Criticism of the Government's use of the ISA rained down with the Malaysian Bar Council - which represents the country's lawyers - Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch all weighing in. Under the ISA, police can detain without trial or access to lawyers those suspected of posing a security risk for up to 60 days.

Thereafter, the Home Ministry must review the case and decide whether to hold suspects for anything up to two years.

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, headed by Musa Hitam, another of Dr Mahathir's discarded former deputies, condemned use of the ISA. "Detention without trial constitutes a fundamental human rights violation," it said in a statement.

An independent rights group said Anwar's original sentence and its first anniversary prompted 117 and 54 arrests respectively, all made under less severe, criminal law.

Lawyers for five detainees held in Kuala Lumpur issued writs of habeas corpus yesterday, requiring their clients to be brought to court for the authorities to justify their detention.

Dr Mahathir was dismissive of the criticisms, saying police, not rights groups, were responsible for national security.