[Ada banyak perkara yang terselit di dalam berita-berita ini. Antara lain, ia menunjukkan Mahathir langsung tidak mahu Anwar dihargai. Sebelum ini Ezam juga mengadu barangan peribadinya telah diceroboh oleh pihak berkuasa manakala pejabat beberapa peguam reformasi turut digeledah oleh pihak tertentu. Kerajaan nampaknya amat takut teraib kerana ada BANYAK kes perbicaraan di mahkamah pada tahun ini...... termasuk kes Augustine Paul VS Christopher Fernando. Sebarang kemenangan di pihak reformasi mungkin akan mencetuskan kemenangan yang lain-lain lagi. - Editor]

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,1870,100385,00.html?

Mahathir pooh-poohs Nobel Peace Prize

It's a political prize aimed at destabilising a country, he says following speculation that Anwar could be nominated for it this year

KUALA LUMPUR - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that the Nobel Peace Prize no longer honoured peace but was a politically motivated award with the capability of destabilising countries.

''It is a political prize,'' he told reporters.

''They give...Nobel prizes so as to ensure that these people can do what they like and be protected by the public.''

''It's no more a peace prize,'' said Dr Mahathir. ''There is no peace. In fact, the idea is to ensure that there is a struggle and to destabilise a country.''

Dr Mahathir did not elaborate or refer to any specific country.

He was responding to a journalist's question about a foreign news report that speculated that Malaysia's former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim could be nominated for the prize this year.

Dr Mahathir fired Anwar in 1998 amid disagreements over about how to handle a regional economic crisis.

The sacking triggered Malaysia's largest street protests in decades, but they tapered off as the economy recovered from the crisis.

Anwar is now serving prison terms totalling 15 years on corruption and sodomy convictions. He claims the charges were rigged to prevent him from threatening Dr Mahathir's rule.

Malaysia's highest court is scheduled to start hearing Anwar's appeal on Monday.

There has been no actual indication that Anwar is a contender for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.

Nominations for the peace prize must be submitted by today. - AP

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,1870,100361,00.html?

Anwar 'upset by surprise raids on his cell'

KUALA LUMPUR - Jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim says prison officers are harassing him in a bid to thwart his preparations for an appeal against his corruption conviction next week.

His lawyer Sankara Nair, who visited him at the Sungai Buloh prison outside Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, said yesterday that the politician was 'visibly upset' over surprise raids on his cell, which had intensified in the past two weeks.

The lawyer said a special task force of five senior prison officers with high-tech equipment, including metal detectors, conducted a sudden search of Anwar's cell last Friday, apparently looking for a telephone among other things.

The one-hour search was conducted in Anwar's absence and nothing was found, he told a news conference.

Anwar's appeal to the Federal Court is to be heard from next Monday to Thursday.

Anwar said in a statement that the number of surprise checks on his cell rose each time he was due to appear in court.

Meanwhile, an opposition leader detained under the Internal Security Act but released nearly three months ago was rearrested yesterday.

Badrol Amin Haron, a senior official of Parti Keadilan, is being kept in the Kamunting detention camp in northern Malaysia, said his wife. --AFP, AP

http://afr.com/asia/2002/02/01/FFX7N9EF3XC.html

Harassment increased, says Anwar

Feb 1
Reuters

Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, facing a final appeal next week against corruption convictions, complained yesterday of harassment by prison officers.

"It has become a pattern to subject me to such forms of harassment especially before a court hearing," Anwar said in a statement delivered by his lawyers.

The Federal Court next Monday will hear Anwar's appeal against convictions on four counts of corruption, or abuse of power, for which he is serving six years in jail.

Anwar said prison authorities had stepped up the frequency of his cell searches, with a five strong-team having swept the room with metal detectors and other equipment last Friday.

"It smacks of deliberate political harassment ordered by the home minister, who abuses his powers by misdirecting the prison authorities," he added.

Mr Rohaizad Abdul Rahim, press secretary to Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, rejected Anwar's allegations.

"The question of harassment, I completely rule it out.

"Why would we harass him given that he's in prison already," he said.

"As far as I know there's no directive to harass Anwar in prison, not that my boss has made. These searches are at the liberty of the prison," he added.

Anwar was sacked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in September 1998 and later charged with five counts each of corruption and sodomy.

He denies all charges, saying he was the victim of a political conspiracy by his enemies.

The former deputy premier and finance chief is serving six and nine years consecutively for corruption and sodomy convictions, which he is appealing.