Why is Anwar still under attack after jailing? asks DAP MP
(Malay Mail Online) – Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail must explain the continued attack and criticism towards Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim even after the opposition leader was convicted and sent to jail, DAP’s Gobind Singh Deo said today.
Pointing to the ongoing remarks and personal criticisms against Anwar by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, the Puchong MP said the AG should advise the private lawyer, who was empowered to act as public prosecutor through a fiat, to put a lid on the behaviour which is embarrassing the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“Does he prosecute, get them convicted, put handcuffs on them, send them to prison and then go on a public rampage against them without giving them any opportunity to defend themselves?” Gobind asked in a statement.
“This is a very serious matter as the Attorney-General would to my mind, in those circumstances, be going way beyond what is required of him both in law and ethically as public prosecutor.
“The Federal Constitution gives the Attorney-General powers to prosecute. It stops there,” he added.
Gobind who is both a lawyer and lawmaker demanded the AG explain if he had authorised the statements attacking and ridiculing Anwar, and if the fiat he gave extends beyond and after the court case is done.
“Is it not an abuse of power for the Attorney-General, be it personally or through his deputies or authorised persons, to carry through with open attacks against a convicted person on his behalf after his prosecution has come to an end?” he asked.
The DAP national legal bureau chairman also urged the Bar Council’s explanation, to consider and set the markers where its members are invited to prosecute.
Last Tuesday, the Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s conviction of Anwar for sodomising his former political aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, also keeping a five-year jail sentence.
Shafee has been giving interviews to local daily New Straits Times on at least two separate occasions since the verdict, defending himself and attacking Anwar despite his limited role as a public prosecutor-by-fiat for the case.
Today in another lengthy interview with Umno-owned broadsheet Utusan Malaysia, Shafee insisted that there was no conspiracy behind the case and slammed Anwar’s supporters for perpetuating what he claimed was a ploy to gain sympathy.
Shafee also ridiculed Anwar’s family for calling Anwar’s jailing as a sacrifice, claiming a real sacrifice would have required him to plead guilty from the start.
