BIDEN Issues Statement on the Arrest of Malaysian Leader Anwar Ibrahim

Statement

BIDEN Issues Statement on the Arrest of Malaysian Leader Anwar Ibrahim

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today on the arrest of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim:

"I am shocked and disheartened by the arrest yesterday of Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. This action appears to be motivated by political considerations: it comes less than a day after Mr. Anwar's announcement of his intention to stand for election to Parliament, and three months after Mr. Anwar's party made the strongest electoral showing by an opposition party in Malaysian history.

"The charges against Mr. Anwar closely mirror those levied against him in 1998: then, too, politically-motivated allegations were made against Mr. Anwar at the precise moment when he seemed poised to challenge a sitting Prime Minister. He spent six years in prison before a court finally overturned his conviction.

"A decade ago, the spectacle of Mr. Anwar's mistreatment and imprisonment on transparently political grounds greatly discredited Malaysia in the eyes of the world community. The action tarnished the reputation of then-Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad. I certainly hope that the current Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, does not repeat the mistakes of the past. I urge him to drop this political attack on a respected opposition figure, and commit himself to rule of law and good governance in Malaysia."

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