Is the reign of Malaysia鈥檚 autocratic leader Mahathir Mohamad nearing its
end? Following his clampdown on the country鈥檚 reform movement and the farcical
show trial of his former right hand man, Anwar Ibrahim, many believe so. But
with Malaysia鈥檚 media providing only the government鈥檚 side of the trial, the
Internet鈥檚 webmasters are doing their best to ensure that the world stays
informed of Mahathir鈥檚 actions.
The site at http://www.anwaribrahim1.com/ is chronicling objective news
coverage of the issue on a daily basis. Rising anger in the streets at the
leader鈥檚 17-year reign鈥攁nd the internationally condemned beatings of Anwar
in custody鈥攊s quelled only by Mahathir鈥檚 M16-toting police.
The Malaysian reform movement, the Reformasi, say that Mahathir looks like
going the way of Indonesia鈥檚 President Suharto. The Reformasi have a site at
http://members.xoom.com/Gerakan/, a resource that quotes many international news
sources. And a site billing itself as the 鈥渕ost complete Web resource guide鈥� to
Anwar鈥檚 cause can be found at http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3297/
Advertisement
Governments, such as that of the Philippines, and agencies including Human
Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have been denied observer status at
Anwar鈥檚 trial, which sits without a jury. Human Rights Watch at
http://www.hrw.org is concerned about the route Mahathir is taking, citing his
government鈥檚 responsibility for 鈥渁 wide range of human rights violations in its
efforts to remove Mr. Anwar from political power鈥�. Growing restrictions on
freedom of expression and assembly are chief among these. Even the Malaysian
digital satellite TV operator, Astro, is turning its advanced computer
technology to the task of censoring any references to Anwar鈥檚 trial from the
foreign news services it carries, such as CNN, NBC and Bloomberg TV. But how
long broadcasters will put up with such editorial interference is unclear.
