The 1960 Internal Security Act and the 1969 Emergency Ordinance both permit detention of suspects for up to two years. The 1970 Sedition Act Amendments prohibit discussion of the privileges granted to Malays and other sensitive issues. In July, Lim Guan Eng, the deputy leader of the opposition Democratic Action Party, began serving a three-year sentence on apparently politically motivated charges under the Sedition Act and the PPPA for having publicly criticized the government s handling of statutory rape allegations against a former state chief minister in 1994. The High Court had originally fined Lim, but during his appeal, the government sought and won a jail term. Separately, a court finished the first stage of the trial of Irene Fernandez, who was arrested in 1996 and charged under the PPPA after her organization, Tenaganita, reported on abuses against migrant workers at immigrant detention centers.
Journalists practice considerable self-censorship.
The broadcast media and the major newspapers are all owned by individuals and companies close to the ruling National Front, and the opposition receives little coverage. In July and August, Mahathir pressured two top newspaper editors and the head of a leading private television station to resign. All were considered close to Anwar. In September, courts charged four people with spreading rumors of rioting in Kuala Lumpur over the Internet, Malaysia s first such cases. The 1967 Police Act requires permits for all public assemblies.