As someone said elsewhere, Shahrir, you’ve ‘mutated’. I’d rather say that you have evolved like the rest of us. You are now caught between the real you and the need to show love and loyalty for your party.’
It has been hotter than usual in Malaysia this past month. The temperature has soared to 38 degrees Celsius and most of us are cowering in our air-conditioned offices, going out only when we absolutely have to.
It has been hotter than usual in Malaysia this past month. The temperature has soared to 38 degrees Celsius and most of us are cowering in our air-conditioned offices, going out only when we absolutely have to.
DATUK SERI MUSTAPA MOHAMED ADMITS THAT HE CONSIDERS HIMSELF AS A HETEROSEXUAL, HE HAS BEEN SLEEPING WITH SAIFUL BUKHARI LATELY AND ENJOYED WITH HIM
2. Despite the efforts of the learned judges there are still huge backlogs of cases of all kinds, civil and criminal, which probably will never be heard, much less adjudged. This is because the hearings take such a long time that the parties to the cases would have forgotten the facts or they would have died.
3. And, as they say, “justice delayed is justice denied”.
Well En Latif, your daughter’s courier tumbling down forever. To make it worse, Saiful may say that your daughter is the one to rape him! just like DSAI case.
we now face another chance to resist the naked assault on decency and justice and we wonder if we are just as helpless as we were before.
How have things changed in more than a decade and what are we up against?To convict an innocent man of false charges, there must be four parties acting in concert, three of them in the criminal justice system. They are the Police to fabricate evidence, the Attorney-General to frame the charge and the Judiciary to convict the accused irrespective of whether he can put up a creditable defense.
However in a democracy, even these three powerful institutions acting in concert are not enough. To this must be added a fourth institution – the press, also aptly referred to as the ‘Fourth Estate’.These four institutions which protect our freedom and democratic rights are also called the pillars of democracy.
The complaining witness faces some sticky questions
JUBOQ SAIFOOL A NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE NEED TO BE DEFENDED PROSECUTORS TO ASK A-G TO APPEAL SODOMY ACQUITTAL
THE POLITICISATION OF SEXUALITY AS A POLITICAL WEAPON AS SEEN FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THE CASE OF DATUK SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM. THE CASE HIGHLIGHTS THE CONTINUOUS USAGE OF THE ARCHAIC AND OUTDATED SODOMY LAW TO PERSECUTE AN INDIVIDUAL OF HIS PERSONAL DIGNITY AND POLITICAL AMBITIONS. WE REMAIN CONCERN OVER THE ACT OF POLITICISING SEXUALITY … Read more JUBOQ SAIFOOL A NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE NEED TO BE DEFENDED PROSECUTORS TO ASK A-G TO APPEAL SODOMY ACQUITTAL
By Jan. 25 – the day after the end of the Lunar New Year holiday, Malaysia’s attorney general, Abdul Gani Patail, must decide whether to appeal the not-guilty verdict in opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II case.
Unlike many western democracies, Malaysia allows the prosecution the right of appeal against a not-guilty verdict. Anwar was declared not guilty on Jan. 9 by High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Diah, who said that “the court cannot be 100 percent certain” that the DNA evidence against Anwar was not contaminated.
4. The litigations by politicians may be justified. But
The political temperature has been rising in Malaysia ever since the announcement of the not-guilty verdict, with a steady stream of announcements in the mainstream press demanding that the prosecution appeal. The United Malays National Organization, the leading political party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, has reaped the reward of considerable sympathetic publicity, alleging that justice has been denied for Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the star witness against Anwar.
Saiful’s father, Azlan Mohd Lazim, held an emotional press conference demanding that: “For the sake of my son, I plead to the AG to file an appeal.” The prosecution team, led by Solicitor General Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, has also demanded that the case be appealed. Saiful himself, a baby-faced 26-year-old, has asked that the case be appealed as well.
Leading the charge to ask for an appeal is said to be a group of UMNO hardliners reportedly led by the Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin despite the fact that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has claimed that the acquittal underscores Malaysia’s commitment to the premier’s extensive reform agenda.
The mainstream media is less slavish than it was under Mahathir but is still a well controlled boneless wonder. However there is one significant difference – the alternative media is now fully developed.
In 1998 the Internet was at its infancy. The government controlled the flow of information through the mainstream media to mould public opinion and anything could be buried by the powers-that-be. But this is no longer possible as online penetration is at least twelve times what it was in 1998 and the online media has reach mainstream status.
An example is the Lingam video scandal which was ignored by the mainstream media and the government initially but knowledge of it became so widespread via the online world that the Bar Council and the government were forced to act.
So the first three institutions are still compromised – enough to do the the hatchet job again; in fact, some would say they have become worse. Only the press has improved somewhat although it must be said that the improvement in information access was an unintended side effect of the proliferation of the Internet and not from any positive action by the BN government. Can the freer flow of information save Anwar now as he battles for his political future?
A QUESTION TO PONDER
this mother fucker judge
It is sad that 11 years after the infamous sodomy trial we still have to ponder this question instead of declaring confidently that thing have changed so much that sending an innocent man to jail under fabricated charges is no longer possible. What the new information environment means is that nothing can be hidden, obscured, obfuscated or distorted. Every proceeding of the court and every evidence tendered or argument advanced will be dissected and scrutinized in detail by a local and international audience.
The mainstream press cannot be too one-sided now. It must at least show some decorum of balanced reporting in the face of widespread public knowledge to avoid insulting its readers.
A blatantly unjust conviction will draw strident condemnation from politicians, social activists, rights groups and NGO’s and the transparent political persecution of an opposition leader will invite outside condemnation and make Malaysia an international pariah.So does this mean that Anwar is safe? The answer is “not necessarily” because despite extreme negative publicity, UMNO is arrogant enough to ride roughshod over public opinion when it suits them.
Abdul Gani, as attorney general, has the sole discretion to grant the appeal and the matter doesn’t rest with either Saiful or UMNO. If the prosecution goes ahead with Saiful’s demand for an appeal of the case against Anwar, however, it brings back a difficult question that prosecutors have ignored since the onset of the case in June of 2008, when Saiful lodged a report claiming he had been sodomized by the opposition leader.
From the start, the prosecution has alleged that the reported contact between Saiful and Anwar was consensual. In court during the trial, which began in February of 2010, Saiful acknowledged that he had gone to Anwar’s condominium on the day the offense was said to have taken place with a tube of lubricant in his pocket, a clear indication that he knew what he was getting into. Anwar has said that he was meeting in the condo with a group of economists at the time, and while a CCTV camera picked up Saiful’s image in the lift, the former aide never entered the condo.
In any case, Saiful has never been charged by the prosecution for participation in an act of unnatural sex, as it is called in Malaysia. One lawyer in Kuala Lumpur, in an interview, compared the case to that of Anwar’s first sodomy trial in 1998, in which Munawar Anees, Anwar’s former speechwriter, was sentenced to six months in prison on the same charge. It was alleged that Munawar took an overnight flight from the United Kingdom to Malaysia to be sodomized by Anwar, then turned around and got on a plane and flew back to the UK. Anwar served six years in prison in that case, which was universally condemned by human rights organization across the world as hopelessly rigged by the government to end his political career.
Both Munawar and another alleged participant in sex with Anwar later recanted their confessions, alleging they had been tortured into pleading guilty. Munawar’s appeal was rejected, however. Anwar was ultimately freed on appeal in September of 2004.
“When (Saiful) has committed the same act that Anwar has been charged with, why has he not been charged?” the lawyer asked. “Dr Munawar, who was basically a Saiful, was dragged into court and sentenced for six months’ jail for being the sodomee and not the sodomist. In this case the sodomist is charged with the same complaint, and the sodomee has got off. That is the situation.”
If Saiful is insisting that he wants to appeal the charge, the lawyer said, “the prosecution should begin initiating a charge against him as well. It is the prosecuting office that acts to protect the members of the public. I would like to see Saiful charged. He is part and parcel of this whole crime. One party cannot commit this crime alone. It takes two to commit the crime.”
Prime Minister Najib has reaped considerable praise for his statement that the government had nothing to do with Zabidin’s decision and that the case had been handled by the judge on its merits. During the trial itself, witnesses testified that Saiful had delayed for 104 hours in providing a DNA sample of Anwar’s alleged sperm.
Brian McDonald, a molecular geneticist, pointed out that no sperm after ejaculation could have survived 56 hours in Saiful’s rectum – during which he said he had neither gone to the bathroom nor eaten – and another 48 hours unguarded in an unlocked safe in the office of the investigating officer prior to being handed over to the chemical laboratory for analysis. It was this concern that led Judge Zabidin to say it was impossible to be 100 percent certain that the DNA hadn’t been contaminated.
If Zabidin’s assessment is correct, as he pointed out that leaves Saiful’s testimony as the sole link to a judgment against the opposition leader. But Saiful has never been arrested nor charged with consensual sex. Nonetheless, he continues to demand to be a complaining witness.
Karim Raslan, Jakarta Globe
For the past 13 years, Malaysian politics has been on a loop — the political equivalent of “Groundhog Day” — as events (most notably, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s two sodomy trials) are repeated ad nauseam.
Last week, thankfully, the cycle was smashed. The acquittal of the former deputy prime minister has given the country an opportunity to move forward — all the more so since national polls must be held before mid-2013.
Why is this so? Well, as mentioned at the start, the seemingly endless cycle of political missteps in Malaysia over the past decade has had an enervating effect on its people. Faith in national institutions has been eroded. The judiciary and the police have become increasingly distrusted.
The many instances of corruption, abuse of power and perceived selective persecution have whittled away at Malaysians’ faith in their country and one another. The attendant suspicion has made moving the nation forward, whether socially or economically, very difficult.
The Anwar decision provides a glimmer of hope because it shows there have been some people working toward a regeneration of the country’s damaged institutions. This has engendered a slow revival of Malaysia’s public institutions and a realization that some form of political liberalization is unavoidable.
The most notable figure has been Malaysia’s fearless auditor general, whose regular reports have continued to highlight government mismanagement and negligence. There are also the reforms of Prime Minister Najib Razak which, while tentative and timid, have shown that the government does recognize that the civil liberties agenda is unavoidable even if the net result has been half-baked and ill-conceived such as the controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill and election reform.
Indeed, it would seem that the people staffing these institutions have come to realize they have a larger duty to the people and that this surpasses any political pressure that may be brought upon them. Such sentiments are crucial if the country is to progress.
There will always be questions over Anwar’s character and judgment. Nevertheless, we cannot dismiss the psychological impact of the trial. It is proof that Malaysia’s judiciary is more independent than commonly thought and that all Malaysians can seek justice.
As I said, it’s a start — but only that. The real question is, where do we go from here?
For the ruling Barisan Nasional and its Malay-majority UMNO lynchpin, the challenge is whether it will continue be able to promote a more positive, less-racially divisive national agenda. Will Najib’s party rise to the policy challenges presented by the opposition? Can the UMNO learn to engage Anwar and the Pakatan Rakyat opposition on a level playing field, which includes equal access to the tightly-controlled media?
Najib has the talent and willingness to do so, but his efforts at reform have been stymied by members of his own party.
Whatever UMNO chooses, Anwar and Pakatan are now a fact of life that the BN will have to deal with.
Anwar has made his political career operating outside the establishment. The various personal attacks on him, as well as UMNO’s use of sectarian rhetoric, have only made the opposition stronger as public disdain for “dirty tricks” grows.
For the opposition, Anwar’s acquittal is a sign that it’s time to get down to business. Pakatan has been distracted by its leader’s personal dramas for far too long at the price of being able to articulate coherent policy positions. There should be no distractions now.
Now, Anwar’s acquittal spices Malaysian politics up considerably. The next general elections, which are expected to happen later this year, will be more closely-fought with two brilliant but cagey protagonists — Najib and Anwar — at their respective helms.
Indeed, it’s very difficult to say who will come out on top. There are so many “wild cards,” not least how Sabah and Sarawak will vote. It could very well be that we could be looking at status quo: namely a BN re-election, but without regaining what it lost in 2008.
This may disappoint eager supporters on both sides, but it also means that the gains Malaysians have made in terms of reform will not be swept away, or become an uncontrollable flood.
Malaysians will have to learn — like Indonesians have — that democracy is a slow, tedious process but one that’s ultimately necessary if a country is to progress. The country itself will be the ultimate winner.
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