H-Net* Canadian journalist freed from Malaysian jail, Amnesty raps sentence

[Concorde]

Canadian journalist freed from Malaysian jail, Amnesty raps sentence KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 (AFP) - Canadian journalist Murray Hiebert was freed Monday after serving a month in jail over an article he wrote as Malaysia's government came under fire at home and abroad for the episode. Rights watchdog Amnesty International said the case "has alarming repercussions for the rights of all Malaysians" and accused the country's judges of failing to uphold and defend the right of free expression. Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said Hiebert's jailing for contempt of court had damaged Malaysia's international image while another opposition party charged the sentence had spread terror among local journalists. Hiebert, a correspondent with the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review magazine, declined to talk to reporters as he left Seremban prison in the southern state of Negeri Sembilan. His lawyer Shafie Abdullah said Hiebert, whose case has also prompted expressions of concern from President Bill Clinton, had no complaints about his treatment in prison. All he wanted now was see his family and leave the country. Review editor Nayan Chanda, who met Hiebert later in Kuala Lumpur, said: "I'm very happy he's out. He should not have been sent to jail." Chanda said Hiebert would leave for Hong Kong on Tuesday and probably spend a few days there but declined further comment. Hiebert, 50, who began a six-week term on September 11 after he lost an appeal, was freed following remission of sentence for good behaviour. He has been unable to leave the country to see his wife and teenage daughter and son in the United States since his passport was impounded at the start of legal proceedings. He was found guilty by the High Court in May 1997 over an article headlined "See you in court," which discussed the merits of a suit filed by the wife of a Court of Appeal judge against the International School of Kuala Lumpur for dropping her son from the debating team. Hiebert's case attracted international concern about press freedom in Malaysia and protests from international media organisations. Amnesty said in a statement it had previously expressed "grave concern" at what it called the government's use of emergency laws to intimidate opponents and curb free expression. "Given that human rights are under threat in Malaysia, judges should be the first line of defence preventing these rights being eroded. "Yet in a series of prominent cases, Malaysian judges have failed to safeguard fundamental liberties enshrined in the Malaysian constitution and in international human rights law." It said courts should be protected from malicious attacks but must tolerate criticism which reflected legitimate public concern. Amnesty cited the case of opposition politician Lim Guan Eng, jailed for a year for sedition after he questioned the attorney general's handling of a statutory rape case involving a ruling party politician and a 15-year-old girl. "Malaysia's international reputation had suffered grievous damage as a result of the Murray Hiebert imprisonment, which could not be made up by having the world's tallest building or splurging hundreds of millions of ringgit to organise (Sunday's) Formula One Grand Prix race," said opposition leader Lim, the father of Guan Eng. In a statement, he said Hiebert was the first journalist in a Commonwealth country for 50 years to be jailed for contempt for what he had written. Keadilan, the party founded by the wife of jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, said the sentence had "created terror" among local journalists and editors, and encouraged even stricter self-censorship. "Putting a journalist in jail for doing his job undermines the press freedoms that play such a critical role in building a democratic society," said a White House statement last month. Canada also expressed concern. But Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has rejected criticism and said courts were independent of the government. He accused the US of treating jailed former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega unfairly and lambasted Canada's treatment of its native American population.