Sodomy II: You Are Also On Trial

ARCHIVES 2011

By MT Webmaster On Dec 14, 2011

Malaysians must be feeling a state of déjà vu. In 1998, for Sodomy I, a soiled mattress was dragged into court, Anwar was poisoned with arsenic and the charges of Anwar having sex with a range of people, to lurid sexploits related by the virgin Queen, Ummi Hafilda, made Malaysian courts a laughing stock.

Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysian Mirror

On the face of it, Sodomy II is the trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim by his accuser, Saiful Bukhari Azlan. In truth, Sodomy II is also the rakyat’s trial. It is one where Malaysians are pitted against government misrule, miscarriages of justice and institutionalised repression.

Sodomy II represents a fight to restore democratic rights, for public institutions to recover their integrity, for the judiciary to be made independent and for the police to regain the public’s respect.

To most observers, trial judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah, appears to have decided Anwar’s fate already.

So who has the most to gain, if Anwar were to be jailed when the judge delivers his verdict?

Who was frustrated when the sodomy charge in Sodomy I was overturned in 2004 by the Supreme Court and Anwar was freed?

The answer is not Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, but the former PM, Mahathir Mohamad. Najib will be pleased, but Mahathir will be ecstatic.

Najib and the other corrupt BN politicians, their families and cronies, will heave a collective sigh of relief.

But for Mahathir, it is the settling of old scores. His political legacy and dynasty can then prosper, without interference. A corrupt person can continue his evil deeds only if he is surrounded by people with no integrity and low principles.

When Anwar’s earlier sodomy conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2004, Mahathir was livid, as were the handful of other individuals who wanted Anwar to remain behind bars.

Anwar said yesterday, that he was “prepared for the best, but expected the worst” when asked to comment about what he thought the judge’s verdict would be on his case.

Last June, Anwar’s three attempts to have Zabidin recused failed. Anwar’s first attempt was when Zabidin failed to take action against Utusan Malaysia for unfair reporting. Zabidin had also threatened to cite Karpal Singh for contempt.

Anwar’s second attempt was when Zabidin “pre-judged” the trial when he said complainant Saiful Bukhari’s testimony was “reliable” and that it would “establish all the facts required to prove the charge against the accused”. Zabidin relied solely on Saiful’s testimony.

In-depth studies based on various intelligence reports, have shown Najib’s cabinet, that they will fare badly in GE-13. Political observers claim that Najib will want Anwar incarcerated and announce the date for GE-13 during the period set aside for him to appeal.

Najib will claim that he did not put Anwar in jail, but the judge did.

Perhaps, this is what autocratic rulers say, when they absolve themselves of their responsibilities and shift the blame onto others in their administration.

Remember how Mahathir denied that he had ordered Operation Lalang and said that the crackdown had been authorised by the IGP Haniff Omar?

Or as in the current news, President Assad of Syria declared recently, that he did not order the brutal retaliation on his people, and that it was his army which was responsible for the violence.

At a press conference yesterday, Mahathir questioned the need for international NGOs to levy corruption charges against Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

He said, “When an election is near, you get funny things like this coming out.

“If it is just a political game to try and undermine somebody’s political image then I think it is not right.”

Mahathir ignores the fact that the timing for the finale of Sodomy II, is set against a backdrop of GE-13. Did he think this was a coincidence?

Perhaps, Mahathir has got Alzheimer’s. In Sodomy I, Anwar faced charges of corruption and sodomy because Anwar, Mahathir’s protégé, refused to bail out companies, during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, using taxpayer’s money. Some of these companies belonged to his son and cronies.

Anwar became a threat to Mahathir and had to be removed. It did not help that others in Umno were jealous of the close relationship that Mahathir and Anwar enjoyed.

In 2008, Najib, who was the prime minister in waiting, was faced with Anwar becoming a threat to his premiership and to Umno domination in Malaysian politics.

Najib realised that Anwar had to be removed, especially as his mass appeal was increasing and he was able to galvanise the fragmented opposition parties. Unfortunately, Najib is not very creative and his plan, to remove Anwar, involved rehashing the previous one made by Mahathir. Thus, Sodomy II was conceived.

But Najib’s blundering ways mean that whatever he does, lacks planning and detail, just like the cursory effort that was put into his Peaceful Assembly Bill (PAB) which then needed urgent amendment barely 24 hours after being tabled.

Nevertheless, Mahathir will be pleased at the prospect of Anwar being jailed. His dream will finally be realised.

In 2011, the seedy plots have varied little. The only changes are the actors like Saiful, his semen stained briefs and the allegations of him having sex with several men as his rectal swabs carried the semen of several men.

These are mere distractions. The main thrust is that Najib needs to win GE-13, by hook or by crook.

Losing means he will be made accountable for his part in the corruption scandals which have dogged Malaysia. He will have to answer for the Scorpene scandal and the murder of Altantuya Shaaribu, amongst others. His ministers will have their own corruption scandals to deal with.

Mahathir’s reason is simple. He does not want previous illegal deals to be aired by Anwar, who must have been privy to them, when he was Finance minister.

All Mahathir wants is his political dynasty to continue via his son, and his family to keep their business empire, which was built on public money.