KUALA LUMPUR — Monday’s surprise acquittal of Malaysia’s opposition leader in a sodomy trial that many viewed as politically motivated eases the prospect of unrest in the multi-ethnic country, one of southeast Asia’s largest tourist draws The potential for trouble was highlighted by three small explosions near the courthouse on Monday morning, injuring several people, while a jubilant Anwar Ibrahim mingled with a raucous, fist-pumping crowd of several thousand supporters. Mr. Anwar, a former government insider who has been hounded by legal actions over alleged sodomy since he broke with Malaysia’s ruling party in the 1990s said, “I thank God for this great news, I am finally vindicated.” The ruling benefits not only Anwar, who’s planning to run for prime minister in upcoming elections, but it may also help the current government burnish democratic credentials dimmed by trials like Anwar’s and the detention of other political opponents.
Tag: New Mandala
Some relief for Thailand’s freedom of speech advocates – South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=88e4e6f07226e210VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&ss=Asia+%26+World&s=News Simon Roughneen in Bangkok – Freedom of speech has long been under scrutiny in Thailand, thanks to the country’s...
Thailand, Reconciled to Division? – ISN
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=117160 A government peace plan is viewed with skepticism by opposition leaders as the fallout from recent political violence...
The Press Under Fire, Again – The Irrawaddy
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18621 Thai and foreign journalists came under fire and sustained casualties during the recent political violence in Bangkok, with...
Sunlight creeping through the Bangkok gloom? – The Irrawaddy
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18376 Redshirt protestors have conditionally-accepted the Government’s new peace plan. However, looking at these developments in the context of...
Reds in the city, Bangkok brinkmanship – New Mandala/CBC Canada
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2010/03/14/sunday-in-bangkok-reds-in-the-city/ Earlier today, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship demanded that the Thai Government dissolve the House...