Malaysian police Monday warned of tough action against anti-government demonstrations and an opposition leader who has called for more rallies said officers had searched his home.
"I wish to emphasise here that if demonstrations are held, police will act sternly," said deputy national police chief Jamil Johari.
"We will not allow the demonstrations to inconvenience others or threaten security," he told reporters in Kota Kinabalu, capital of the eastern state of Sabah.
Jamil, quoted by Bernama news agency, was commenting on a Sunday newspaper report which quoted Mohamad Ezam Mohamad Nor, youth chief of the opposition National Justice Party (Keadilan), as saying it would stage mass street rallies to topple the government.
Ezam has strongly denied the remarks, saying he merely commented on plans to hold nationwide peaceful protest meetings.
Jamil said the police were investigating Ezam's reported statement.
"If we are convinced that such a statement was actually made, we'll take action from there and effect arrests where necessary," he added.
Ezam said six plainclothes policemen "ransacked" his home Monday afternoon while only the maid was at home.
He told AFP nothing appeared appeared to have been taken and it was not clear what they were looking for.
Keadilan is headed by the wife of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.
A gathering by Anwar's supporters last November 5 was broken up by police using batons, tear gas and water cannon. Police said some sections of the crowd stoned them and hurled abuse.
Twice last month police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse opposition gatherings.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Sunday accused Keadilan of being bent on fomenting violence, as in Indonesia.
On Monday Keadilan's deputy president Chandra Muzaffar criticised what he called Mahathir's "vile attempt" to depict the party as bent on overthrowing the government through violence.
Chandra said in a statement that Keadilan opposed violence to achieve political change but was struggling for the right of peaceful assembly.
Demonstrations, once rare in Malaysia, have become more and more common since Mahathir sacked his heir apparent Anwar in September 1998.
Anwar was later convicted of abuse of power and sodomy and jailed for a total of 15 years in what he says was political persecution. The government denies any political motive -- KUALA LUMPUR (AFP)
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