BBC News Online: World: Asia-Pacific

Malaysian editor in court over sedition

The editor of Malysia's main opposition newspaper, Harakah, goes on trial today charged with sedition.

The charges are linked to an article which alleged that the country's Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammed, had conspired to have his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, charged and sentenced for abuse of power.

The editor, Zulkifli Sulong, has denied the charges, but his co-defendant, the printer of the paper, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a fine of one-thousand dollars.

The authorities have already limited the number of the paper's editions to two a month -- a decision its publishers plan to take to the courts as politically motivated.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service