Justice for Guan Eng, Justice for Anwar Ibrahim, Justice for Irene Fernandez all represent the cries of all Malaysians for justice in our beloved land


Speech
- on the seventh day of the  18-day
‘Free Guan Eng" Marathon  Fast ceramah
by Lim Kit Siang  

(Kajang, Wednesday): The 18-day Free Guan Eng Marathon Fast is an expression of the nation-wide dismay, shock, grief and outrage at a great  injustice in Malaysia. It is an injustice  where a conscientious, diligent and courageous Member of Parliament is jailed for 18 months for defending the honour, human rights and women rights of an underaged girl who was herself detained at one time while the powerful and mighty accused escaped  scotfree.

It is a double injustice that Guan Eng should  lose his personal liberty, his Parliamentary status,  his professional qualification as a certified accountant and even his life-long health for having to sleep on the cold hard cement floor without any mattress causing him   acute daily back pains and to lose six pounds in 18 days for championg the rights  of a Malaysian of a different ethnic and religious group  - when in fact he should be rewarded and held up as a role model of what a true Malaysian should be!

The Lim Guan Eng  case has brought to the fore the fundamental issues of justice, freedom, democracy and good governance in Malaysia.

The is the seventh day of the Marathon Fast for Justice for Guan Eng, and so far 20 justice-loving Malaysians have taken part in the Marathon Fast, including a victim of injustice, Irene Fernandez whose trial for publishing false news under the Printing Presses and Publications Act has dragged on for some 170 days - and is only somewhere in mid-trial.  Others who have taken part in the fast include Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, Ahmad Nor, Ahmad Muluk Daud, Fan Yew Teng and Tian Chua.  Among those taking in the past at present is Hew Kuang Yaw, who is undergoing a 108-hour fast.

The Marathon Fast, however,  is not just about justice for Guan Eng. Tthe nightly vigils and ceramahs at the Free Guan Eng Marathon Fast redounds with calls of "Justice for Anwar" and "Justice for Irene Fernandez".

In fact,  "Justice for Guan Eng", "Justice for Anwar Ibrahim", "Justice for Irene Fernandez" all represent the cries of all Malaysians for justice in our beloved land!

(16/9/98)


*Lim Kit Siang - Malaysian Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Democratic Action Party Secretary-General & Member of Parliament for Tanjong