Third day of Anwar protests
Sunday, 13 August, 2000, 14:01 GMT 15:01
UK
Police were on guard but did not break up the
protest
More than 2,000 supporters of Malaysia's
jailed
former deputy prime minister, Anwar
Ibrahim,
have held a third day of protests after
turning
up at his prison to celebrate his
recent
birthday.
The crowd chanted "Reform", the rallying
cry
of the National Justice Party which was set
up
by Mr Anwar's wife, and released pigeons
and
balloons at the prison entrance.
On Tuesday, Mr
Anwar
was given a
nine-year
prison sentence
on
sodomy charges.
Dozens of riot
police
were on
guard
watching
the
demonstrators,
but
made no attempt
to
disperse them.
Many of Mr
Anwar's
supporters held flags
of
the National
Justice
Party, and banners reading "Free the
judiciary,"
Happy birthday Anwar," and "People are
the
judge".
'Western interference'
Mr Anwar, who turned 53 on
Thursday,
received a visit from his wife, Wan Azizah
Wan
Ismail, who told supporters he was grateful
he
had not been forgotten.
She thanked people for braving the rain to
turn
up outside the Sungai Buloh prison, 50km
(30
miles) northwest of the capital Kuala Lumpur
to
show their support.
On Saturday, Malaysia accused
several
Western countries of interfering in its
domestic
affairs, following their criticism of
Tuesday's
sentence.
The United States, Canada, Australia,
New
Zealand and the European Union
have
condemned the ruling.
Lawyers for the
former
finance minister, who
is
already serving
a
six-year sentence
for
corruption,
are
appealing against
the
latest verdict.
During the second
day
of protests
since
Tuesday,
supporters
presented
a
memorandum to
the
government-appointed
Malaysian Human Rights Commission, urging
it
to speak out against Mr Anwar's latest
prison
sentence.
Public confidence
The memorandum denounced the
commission's
silence over what it termed a national
tragedy
that had undermined Malaysia's judiciary
and
other institutions.
The BBC South East Asia correspondent
says
that while visible protests have been minimal
in
Malaysia, the affair has probably
damaged
public confidence in the leadership of the
Prime
Minister, Mahathir Mohamad.
Mr Anwar maintains his innocence, saying
the
charges against him were fabricated as part
of
a political plot orchestrated by Dr Mahathir
and
those close to him.
But the prime minister has said Mr
Anwar
received a fair trial and denies there was
any
conspiracy to remove him from power.
Mr Anwar, who was once Dr Mahathir's
heir
apparent, was fired as finance minister
and
deputy premier in 1998.
His nine-year sentence for sodomy will
begin
after his six-year sentence for
corruption,
imposed in April 1999, comes to an end.
Mr Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair said the
appeal
would focus on the "inconsistent" evidence
of
Azizan Abu Bakar, the man allegedly
sodomised
by Mr Anwar.
