US summons Malaysian envoy

WASHINGTON: The United States summoned Malaysia’s top envoy in Washington on Friday to protest its crackdown on dissent at a time when the Opposition was attempting to take over power in Kuala Lumpur.

Ilango Karuppannan, the charge d’affaires of the Malaysian embassy, was summoned to the State Department after the ISA arrests in the country.

“Peaceful expression of political opinions is a fundamental right and critical to a democracy,” a State Department official said.

“The United States believes that the Malay-sian Government should provide due process and treatment consistent with Malaysian law and international standards,” said the official.

“We expect that democratic countries that purport to advocate free expression of political views will not curtail such freedom,” the official said following the ISA arrests.

This is the second time Ilango was summoned to the State Department in a month.
The last time he was hauled up was when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was charged with sodomy.