Malaysian government accused of crushing rally with tear gas and mass arrests

Malaysia's government defended itself yesterday over charges of suppressing dissent, after making mass arrests and unleashing tear gas against at least 20,000 demonstrators who marched for electoral reforms.

International rights groups and Malaysian opposition parties denounced the government's response to the country's largest political rally in four years, which resulted in the arrest of 1,667 people on Saturday. By yesterday, all were freed.

Amnesty International called it "the worst campaign of repression we've seen in (Malaysia] for years," while Human Rights Watch said it was "a maelstrom of the Malaysian authorities' own making".

Prime minister Najib Razak's declaration that the rally was unlawful and repeated warnings over the past month for people to avoid it have sparked criticism that his National Front coalition wants to extend its 54-year rule by ensuring that election policies favour the government.

The rally was organised by civic groups backed by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's three-party alliance.

The alliance said a 59-year-old member died from a heart attack during the rally, though police denied opposition allegations that he was hit by tear gas.

Home minister Hishammuddin Hussein insisted that the demonstrators sought to "create chaos in this country and hoped to be arrested in order to portray the government as cruel".

The minister's statement contrasted sharply with narratives by participants, who said they were marching peacefully to a stadium when riot police repeatedly fired tear gas and chemical-laced water and charged at them to make arrests.