TERRESSA KOK BEBAS
Malaysia frees opposition MP detained in race row
Kok was arrested on allegations she wanted to ban the Muslim call for prayer in her constituency, which she has strongly denied.
Friday, 19 September 2008 10:26
Malaysia's government on Friday released an opposition member of parliament detained under the country's draconian Internal Security Act (ISA), her party said. Theresa Kok is an MP from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a journalist and a well-known blogger. The Act allows for indefinite imprisonment without trial. Malaysia's government, which has ruled the Southeast Asian nation for 51 years since independence, is facing the biggest challenge to its political leadership after the opposition won a record number of parliamentary seats in elections in March.
The arrests were made last weekend, but the journalist has already been freed. The government also issued notices to three newspapers which could result in them being banned after one reported comments from a junior politician from the ruling party in which he called the country's ethnic Chinese "immigrants" and "squatters". "She (Teresa Kok) was released after nearly a week following irresistable pressure from the people," said Lim Kit Siang, a leader in the mostly-Chinese DAP to which Kok belongs. "It shows the ISA was used for political whims of select few in government to show that they are powerful. It was a tit for tat move." Kok was arrested on allegations she wanted to ban the Muslim call for prayer in her constituency, which she has strongly denied.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had defended the arrests, saying they were used only when there was a threat to security and public order and that the three arrests had been made by the police, not on instructions from the government.
Reuters
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