His Excellency Dato' Seri Dr. Mahatir Mohamad
Prime Minister
Jabatan Perdana Menteri
Kuala Lumpur 50502
Malaysia
13 January 2000
Your Excellency,
We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and World
Editors Forum, which represent more than 17,000 publications in 93
countries, to express our serious concern at the arrest of newspaper
Zulkifli Sulong, editor of the opposition newspaper Harakah. You will
remember that we wrote to you on 10 January concerning the harassment of
five private newspapers, including Harakah.
According to reports, police today arrested Mr Sulong, editor of the
bi-weekly Harakah, on charges of sedition. The charges relate to an
article
published last year about the sacked former deputy prime minister, Anwar
Ibrahim, who was jailed for corruption and still faces sodomy charges. If
convicted, Mr Sulong could face up to three years in prison.
We respectfully remind you that the arrest of Mr Sulong is a clear breach
of
his right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous
international conventions. Furthermore, the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights considers that "detention, as punishment for the peaceful
expression of an opinion, is one of the most reprehensible ways to enjoin
silence and, as a consequence, a grave violation of human rights".
We respectfully call on you to ensure that Mr Sulong is immediately
released
from jail and that all charges are dropped. We urge you to do everything
in
your power to ensure that in future Malaysia fully observes
internationally
recognised standards of freedom of expression.
We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Bengt Braun
President
World Association of Newspapers
Ruth de Aquino
President
World Editors Forum
cc: Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
Mrs Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General, UNESCO
Larry Kilman
Director of Communications
World Association of Newspapers
25, rue d'Astorg
75008 Paris France
Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00
Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48
E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr
Visit our web site at www.wan-press.org
