Kuala Lumpur - Opposition Malaysian leaders have vowed to file a police report and lawsuit against Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, demanding that the Attorney General charge Malaysia's ruler for spreading "vicious rumors" and inciting fear.
The move was meant to stop the government from accusing its rivals of plotting violent protests in the Malaysian capital to oust Mahathir, said National Justice Party officials.
"The prime minister is guilty of hurling vicious rumors against us," said Tian Chua, vice-president of the Justice Party. "We want the Attorney General to charge him for causing unnecessary terror among the people."
Earlier this month, Mahathir warned that the Justice Party might stage a riot in Kuala Lumpur to mark the first anniversary of jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim's conviction.
The prime minister alleged that Anwar's supporters were ready to carry weapons and sticks to beat up security forces. He told the opposition to cancel any planned protest.
Last weekend, hundreds of Malaysians defied the warning and demonstrated in Kuala Lumpur. Scores of policemen in riot gear chased, beat and arrested many protesters, but found no weapons on any of them - except for a toy gun.
Police detained dozens of opposition activists for nearly a week. Many of them were eventually charged for illegal assembly and insulting the police, but none for violence.
On Sunday, Chua, the Justice Party vice-president, said his party would lodge a police report against Mahathir sometime this week for making false claims against the opposition.
A lawsuit would be likely be filed next month by attorneys of the party, which is headed by Anwar's wife, Azizah Ismail.
Several protesters, who were detained this last week, also planned to take legal action against police for allegedly beating them during custody and denying them medical treatment, Chua said.
Spokespeople from the prime minister's Department were not available for comment.
Street demonstrations first shook the usually placid Malaysian capital soon after Mahathir fired Anwar as deputy prime minister in September 1998.
Anwar was subsequently arrested, convicted of corruption and sentenced to six years in prison on April 14 last year. He is now on trial for sodomy, a crime in mainly Muslim Malaysia, for which he faces another 20 years in jail.
Anwar insists Mahathir and other government leaders concocted the charges to prevent him from becoming prime minister. - Sapa-AP