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</td> </tr> <tr><td class="content_subtitle" align="left"> Wed, Feb 17, 2010
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Malaysians protest over Australian criticism of Anwar trial <!-- TITLE : end--> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" height="15">
</td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" class="bodytext_10pt"> <!-- CONTENT : start --> KUALA LUMPUR- Hundreds of demonstrators massed outside the Australian High Commission in the Malaysian capital Wednesday to protest against criticism of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial.
More than 50 Australian MPs last week lodged a formal protest over the trial of the former deputy premier which began earlier this month, urging Malaysia to drop the case and saying it would hurt the country's image. Some 300 demonstrators, led by the influential youth wing of the ruling party UMNO, yelled slogans and carried banners calling on Australia to "Mind your own business" during the peaceful rally which lasted less than an hour.
"If you want to ask for a fair trial, OK, but if you're asking us to drop our charges and insinuate conspiracy, then this is something that we have to address," said UMNO youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. "It is serious and although not reflective of the Australian government, is still considered an interference which we must protest," he told AFP.
Representatives of the demonstrators were allowed into the building to deliver a memorandum to High Commissioner (ambassador) Penny Williams. "We welcomed them coming and making those representations, and we undertook to convey those concerns back to Canberra," an official from the high commission told AFP.
"Both we and the people we saw this morning did make a clear distinction that these were the personal views of Australian MPs and that was something that our Malaysian visitors today completely understood." Anwar says the sodomy charges, which could see him jailed for 20 years, are a political conspiracy and another attempt to end his career after he was convicted and jailed on similar allegations a decade ago.
The Australian MPs had said that observers of Malaysia "find it difficult to believe that a leading opposition voice could be charged with sodomy a second time" and noted the allegations came after Anwar made major gains in 2008 polls. Prime Minister Najib Razak said over the weekend that Malaysia would "explain and engage" with the Australian lawmakers. "I don't think they know the real situation," he said according to the Star daily.
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AFP </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="15">
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Malaysians protest over Australian criticism of Anwar trial <!-- TITLE : end--> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" height="15">
More than 50 Australian MPs last week lodged a formal protest over the trial of the former deputy premier which began earlier this month, urging Malaysia to drop the case and saying it would hurt the country's image. Some 300 demonstrators, led by the influential youth wing of the ruling party UMNO, yelled slogans and carried banners calling on Australia to "Mind your own business" during the peaceful rally which lasted less than an hour.
"If you want to ask for a fair trial, OK, but if you're asking us to drop our charges and insinuate conspiracy, then this is something that we have to address," said UMNO youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. "It is serious and although not reflective of the Australian government, is still considered an interference which we must protest," he told AFP.
Representatives of the demonstrators were allowed into the building to deliver a memorandum to High Commissioner (ambassador) Penny Williams. "We welcomed them coming and making those representations, and we undertook to convey those concerns back to Canberra," an official from the high commission told AFP.
"Both we and the people we saw this morning did make a clear distinction that these were the personal views of Australian MPs and that was something that our Malaysian visitors today completely understood." Anwar says the sodomy charges, which could see him jailed for 20 years, are a political conspiracy and another attempt to end his career after he was convicted and jailed on similar allegations a decade ago.
The Australian MPs had said that observers of Malaysia "find it difficult to believe that a leading opposition voice could be charged with sodomy a second time" and noted the allegations came after Anwar made major gains in 2008 polls. Prime Minister Najib Razak said over the weekend that Malaysia would "explain and engage" with the Australian lawmakers. "I don't think they know the real situation," he said according to the Star daily.
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