Activists and NGOs members will rally at the Malaysian consulate in New York at 11am (around midnight in Malaysia) today as a show of support for embattled Selangor executive councillor, Elizabeth Wong.

Sponsored by Burma Point, Code Pink Women for Peace, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network and Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and Action, the rally will also serve to amplify the rights of women politicians to privacy.

elizabeth wong ellie selangor interview 080408 Wong offered to resign as Bukit Lanjan assemblyperson and Selangor executive councillor this week after nude photographs of her were distributed to various members of the press.

The pictures are believed to have been taken, without her consent, by a former boyfriend. Police are currently looking for him in order to record his statement .

Jessica Rucell, a friend of Wong and fellow human rights advocate, said in a statement today that "Wong's political record is one of integrity. She has committed no crime and shouldn't be forced to resign.

"The attack on her personal life illustrates the double standards women politicians face, with more attention paid to superficial and irrelevant matters than to their platform and political record."

"Wong is an exemplary, courageous woman and this smear against her should not be allowed to sully her work and reputation," added Michael Renner, a researcher who knows Wong through her work on the Aceh conflict in Indonesia.

The activists will also urge Wong's party Pakatan Rakyat and the Selangor state government to reject Wong's resignation in support of women's rights to privacy and in rejection of underhanded political tactics.

Wong yesterday left the country, saying she could no longer stand the immense stress brought on by the controversy. She also worryingly alluded to the existence of more lewd photographs and possibly a video recording.