No more questions on past sodomy cases, says Anwar

(FMT) – PKR president Anwar Ibrahim today said he will not entertain any more questions from the media relating to his past sodomy cases, especially if they pit him against Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

This comes a day after Mahathir rejected a suggestion from a member in the audience during his address to the Oxford Union Society that he had subverted the rule of law in Anwar’s first trial.

Mahathir told the audience that the law stipulates that if one commits a wrong, one will be charged and tried in a court of law, and it is the judges who decide.

Speaking to reporters after launching the PKR Lembah Pantai service centre, Anwar repeated that he and Mahathir had decided to work together.

“I will not be provoked into anything that may turn into a rancorous exchange with Mahathir.

“Our priority is to work for a better Malaysia and not to make it an Anwar versus Mahathir fight,” he said, when asked to comment about Mahathir’s statement in London.

The Federal Court sentenced Anwar to five years in jail in 2015 for sodomising his former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Anwar was later granted a royal pardon, paving the way for his return to politics. He was elected the Port Dickson MP in October last year.

He also commented on the government’s decision to ban Israeli athletes from competing in the World Para-Swimming Championships in Kuching scheduled for mid-2019.

“I think the cabinet, in taking this decision, has considered the ban as one of the ways to voice out our strong position against Israel’s transgression on Palestine,” he said.

On the criticism that he faced from his fellow PKR leaders, Anwar said he preferred to take a soft approach. “Let them speak as they like,” he said.

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali had previously said Anwar should review the recent appointments to PKR’s central leadership council, including appointing Rafizi Ramli as vice- president, as the appointments were not a “fair and just representation” of the recently concluded party elections.

Azmin defended his statement, saying he was doing it in his capacity as PKR’s number two leader.