From:
Date: 01 Oct 1999
Time: 08:57:20
More Anwar supporters charged with unlawful assembly
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (AFP) - Another nine supporters of jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim were charged Friday with illegal assembly following a major protest last month, state news agency Bernama reported. All denied taking part in an illegal rally on September 19 and were allowed bail of 2,000 ringgit (526 dollars) each, Bernama said. The court fixed January 18-19 for the hearing.
Bernama said lawyer Wan Razali was also charged with being in possession of an offensive weapon -- a wooden rod -- during the rally and pleaded not guilty.
The nine were among thousands of protesters at the National Mosque on September 19, where the biggest rally in five months was held on the eve of the anniversary of Anwar's arrest.
They include four leaders of the National Justice Party (Keadilan) headed by Anwar's wife, who turned themselves in to police Monday. Seven other Keadilan members were charged earlier with the same offence and have also been released on bail.
Rallies are illegal in Malaysia without a permit.
Anwar, sacked and arrested in September last year, was jailed for six years in April for abusing his official position and is now on trial on a sodomy charge.
He appeared in court Monday for the first time in over two weeks after being hospitalized following alleged attempts to poison him with arsenic. The trial was adjourned again Tuesday after doctors said he was suffering from "tension headaches."
Local lawyers meanwhile criticised police prosecutors for the way they handled the cases of other people detained after the September 19 rally.
The Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee said in a statement it "views with concern the arrests, detention and prosecution of several persons for allegedly having participated in an illegal assembly ... "
It criticised police for trying to block access by lawyers to five of those detained after the protest. The court overruled police objections and allowed lawyers to consult clients.
The bar committee also criticised police prosecutors for opposing bail when the five were brought to court to be charged. The court allowed bail.
The council said any decision to oppose bail should be exercised with great caution.
"Any incarceration of an accused person prior to a finding of guilt should be abhorred," it said. "It would amount to punishment before conviction."