Sodomy II guilty verdict cements Anwar’s political martyrdom

By admin-s On Feb 11, 2015

In particular was how the court decided to accept accuser Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s testimony without corroboration as allowed by our laws in sexual assault cases yet chose to decide that in Anwar’s case his denial alone is not enough.

Hazlan Zakaria, The Ant Daily

When the Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s overturning of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II High Court acquittal, the stage is set for the political martyrdom of the embattled leader.

Regardless of whether it is just or manipulated, via legal basis or lack thereof, once sent inside prison walls he will have his moral stature inflated to a point that he may not have even as a free man, as charismatic and respected as he already is.

While outside he is still subject to the usual political stupidity acid test which he himself continues to fail more than once, once inside he is anointed so to speak, the romance of a jailed popular dissident leader far outweighing other tell tales or innuendos.

There are reasons why to this day Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela continue to be icons of political struggles and idolised by those fighting for freedom.

And Anwar may very well join their ranks into posterity just as surely as he steps one foot into Sungai Buloh Prison where he has been sentenced to serve his five-year jail term for the Sodomy II conviction.

True enough, even jaded journalists used to Anwar’s rhetoric play and well-nigh immune to his affected charm after years of covering him, confessed to having goose bumps when they heard his final address to the court as the convicted accused.

The stage is set that the game’s afoot so to speak. A fulfilment perhaps of Anwar’s foretelling in an interview with foreign media, whilst he was on his standard ‘rabble rousing’ trip prior to today’s judgment.

Then he warned that his political persecution will not stand with the rakyat as has happened before to many other dissident leaders.

While one can argue if he has been prosecuted or persecuted, his jailing will surely cause many ripples if no longer the massive waves that it would have once had.

Especially with questions that continue to surround the way the court handled the evidence and witness accounts used to convict and ultimately sentence him.

Questions which critics say have not been settled or argued to any satisfaction other than as the opinion and judgment of the learned judges.

Some also look at the poser over the DNA evidence and its viability as well as how Anwar’s DNA was acquired via unconventional ways.

But political martyr and questionable judgment or no, the question is, will this translate into rallies and protests on the streets like it did last time he was jailed?

It probably won’t as the fortitude of Malaysians, even diehard Pakatan supporters, have already been tested and stretched to the limits in the years that the trial had gone on.

One thing which probably works for the powers that be trying to keep this thing under wraps, especially with international scrutiny brought to bear by Anwar’s high profile.

Indeed, reports of today’s judgment noted that the numbers on the ground were a far cry from the thousands that thronged the streets and car park in front of the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 2012.

However, this discounts the fact that being tired of the issue and refraining from showing support on the ground does not necessarily mean that the bulk of those simply are apathetic or not supportive of the opposition leader.

While many are jaded that they may not even doubt his innocence, the way the case was handled has caused civil society to decry the case as more akin to persecution as far as they can see.