Malaysia opposition HQ raided by cops

Police have raided a Malaysian opposition party’s headquarters to search for seditious material, sparking accusations today of a crackdown on political dissent.

The hour-long search late yesterday marked the first time police had raided the Democratic Action Party’s main office in its 42-year history, said the party’s parliamentary chief, Lim Kit Siang.

Plainclothes policemen entered the office without a search warrant and seized a computer and DVDs, he said.

The move comes amid an increasingly acrimonious battle for control of northern Perak state, which the ruling National Front coalition wrested from a three-party opposition alliance in February.

The struggle has turned into an emotional fight between opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is struggling to revive the National Front’s slumping popularity.

District police chief Abdul Jalil Hasan told the national Bernama news agency that the confiscated computer was believed to have been used to publish seditious pamphlets handed out during opposition demonstrations against the ruling coalition’s takeover of Perak.

Mr Anwar called the raid “an insult to the Constitution and the rule of law.”

Teresa Kok, another opposition official, said it was a “scare tactic” to deter opposition demonstrations.

Police have arrested dozens of people who took part in such protests in recent weeks, though most were eventually freed without any immediate charges.