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DAP supports the call by Mahathir to expel Burma from ASEAN
Media Statement
by Teresa Kok Suh Sim
(Kuala Lumpur,
Tuesday):
I support the call by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad
to expel Burma from ASEAN over the military junta's refusal to release
the country's Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other pro-democracy
activists.
Such a call has been long awaited in the face of continued defiance by the
military junta to free Suu Kyi and leaders and activists of the National
League for Democracy (NLD) despite international and regional pressure,
particularly as their detention has put a large dent on painstaking efforts
towards democratization and national reconciliation in the country.
In fact, Malaysia had worked very hard to bring Burma into ASEAN and the
Special United Nations envoy to Burma, Tan Sri Razali Ismail, who is a
Malaysian, was responsible for brokering the peace talks between the
military junta and the NLD.
We hope that by exerting further pressure on the military junta in the form
of possible expulsion from ASEAN for blatant violation of human rights in
the detention of Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders and activists, it would
soften their tough stance and comply with the many voices calling for the
release of the latter.
In the same way the Malaysian government is extending its solidarity to Suu
Kyi and the process of national reconciliation in Burma, it should also do
likewise in the case of former deputy premier Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. It
must not be seen to practice double standards when it comes to a domestic
issue. Hence, we hope that the government would support Anwar's application
for bail pending his appeal against his sodomy conviction.
(22/7/2003)
* Teresa Kok Suh Sim, DAP International Secretary and MP for
Seputeh
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http://dapmalaysia.org