Amnesty Int'l slams Umno-BN govt for 'show trial' against Anwar

Global civil rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged Prime Mnister Najib Razak’s Umno-BN government to drop its politically motivated criminal charges of sodomy against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

“The Malaysian authorities have resorted to the same old dirty tricks in an attempt to remove the opposition leader from politics. Malaysia’s judiciary should throw out these charges,” Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific director of Amnesty International, said in a statement obtained by Harakahdaily on Saturday.

Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, is facing a second round of sodomy charges that he has pleaded not guilty to. The 62-year old reform icon has blamed Najib for fabricating evidence in a bid to kill his political resurgence.

Following his public criticism of then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed in 1998, Anwar was arrested and convicted on sodomy and corruption charges. He spent six years in solitary confinement before his conviction was overturned and he was released.

His new trial – which the press has tagged as Sodomy II - is now set to begin on February 2 at the High Court. This case is the second time in 12 years that the Umno-BN government have brought such charges against the former DPM, who is now the adviser of the People's Justice Party or PKR.

Against fair trial standards defined by the UN

On Friday, he lost an appeal for access to the government’s evidence against him. Legal experts have slammed the apex court’s decision for ignoring an amendment in the Criminal Procedure Code that lawmakers had inserted for the express purpose of ensuring that defense teams had access to the same weapons as the prosecutors.

“Anwar’s case has rightly raised doubts among the international community and investors about Malaysia’s commitment to justice and the rule of law,” said Zarifi. “The prosecution’s refusal to deliver evidence to the defence at the pre-trial stage infringes international fair-trial standards and Malaysian law. “

Under Section 51A of Malaysia’s Criminal Procedure Code, the prosecution must deliver documents and a written statement of facts favourable to the defence.

This is in fact required by the UN Human Rights Committee, which has established that the minimum facilities for fair trials “must include access to documents and other evidence which the accused requires to prepare his case”, Zarifi said.

“The court’s decision to allow the prosecution to withhold key evidence sets a dangerous precedent for criminal cases in Malaysia,” he said. “This is a recipe for unfair trials.”

Against international human rights

Furthermore, Amnesty International said the criminal charge of sodomy against Anwar, under Section 377B of the Penal Code, is also at odds with international human rights standards.

“This British colonial-era law provides for prison and whipping, a punishment that violates the international law prohibition on torture and other ill-treatment. Moreover, the UN Human Rights Commission in 1997 ruled that sodomy laws infringe the fundamental right to privacy,” Zarifi said.

For five years, Anwar was banned from seeking public office as a result of his conviction on corruption charges. After the ban expired in April 2008, he won a parliamentary seat on August 26, 2008, and become the Opposition Leader and de-facto head of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

But on July 17, 2008, about a month before the Permatang Pauh by-election, Anwar was again arrested on charges that he had committed sodomy with a male former aide. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and loss of political office.