Anwar Ibrahim puts faith in Malaysian public, not judiciary

(Radio Australia News) – The Malaysian government has been accused of manipulating the judicial system for political reasons. Opposition supporters are outraged, after the Kuala Lumpur High Court decided a sodomy charge against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim should go to trial next month.

Mr Anwar was charged with sodomy in August last year, just before he was re-elected to office, in a case which centres on allegations by a 23 year old former aide, who alleges he had sex with Mr Anwar on a number of occasions last year at a Kuala Lumpur apartment.

Sodomy is a criminal offence in Muslim-dominated Malaysia, and if found guilty, Mr Anwar faces a 20 year jail sentence.

Mr Anwar says due process must be followed, and he’s told Radio Australia’s Connect Asia program he will appeal.

“We understand the difficulties in the process, but we will at least show the Malaysian public that we will exhaust all avenues,” he said.

“We don’t have the confidence. They have enough evidence to suggest that there is blatant corruption in the judiciary involving the highest judicial officers, so why do then use this process and exhaust avenues? Because we want to show the Malaysian public notwithstanding all the limitations that we have to endure and face, we will have then to still respect the process.”

Mr Anwar was charged with sodomy more than a decade ago and served time in jail, but the charges were ultimately quashed.

And he says whatever the outcome this time, he believes Malaysians are more able to differentiate between truth and falsehoods spread against him.

“In 1998, when I was convicted and jailed, badly assaulted, it brought about a new awareness and a groundswell,” he said.

“I’m not necessarily keen to go through that process, but I think knowing, accepting the fact that we’re working under such an authoritarian system, with no media access and a compliant judiciary, we would attempt to do our best, but prepare for the worst.

“But again, I would reiterate the point that Malaysians in 2009 are more aware of their rights, are more critical and would not readily accept the draconian and repressive measures.”

Mr Anwar maintains the charges against him are politically motivated, coming as his Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition gains ground on the government, with wins in six out of 14 states and territories in last year’s elections.

And he’s dismissed talks of infighting within the coalition, over the inclusions of a highly-conservative Muslim party and its platform, which includes the establishment of Sharia law.

“The media, because it is controlled by the ruling establishment, would then exaggerate whatever little problem they we encounter, but we have proven that we are sustainable, we have cemented relations, we have now more regular meetings at the leadership level,” he said.

“It’s virtually every week and we are moving towards a major convention, to identify and hopefully, we can succeed by mid-December to clarify on the specific economic, social, religious, educational programmes and agenda.”