Archive for December 4th, 2009

4 December 2009

Pendapat

Pendapat Anda?

From Malaysiakini

What can be used to penetrate but leave no conclusive evidence in regard to the anus? It must be the legendary ‘Magic Dildo’ where only the smartest people can see and feel…’.

Changeagent: Our ruling government is pursuing a no-win strategy here with their ill-advised manipulation of the judicial system. Regardless of the verdict, the vast majority of the public are already convinced that Anwar Ibrahim is innocent, and that government machinery orchestrated this case to neutralise his threat in the next general election.

If Anwar is found guilty, the repercussions for Umno/BN would be quite severe – it would increase the resolve of the people to oust a much disliked government that is inept, dictatorial and corrupt. May justice prevail, and may more Malaysians awaken from their slumber to comprehend the troubling state of our beloved country.

Eddy: Finally, a year after he was charged, Anwar will get the chance to defend himself in a court of law. So much time and energy have been wasted by Anwar and his battery of highly-paid lawyers to avoid a trial.

Let the trial begin. If Anwar and his lawyers think they have the evidence fully on their side, then they should not worry. Anwar should not conduct his defence in the media by giving selective statements and spins. He should choose to go to trial and meet the prosecutors head on.

Or is Anwar afraid that in the trial, his game is up because the public prosecutor, led by solicitor-general II Yusof Zainal Abiden, had last week claimed they had extra-medical evidence to show Mohd Saiful had been sexually involved with Anwar?

Yusof drew the court’s attention to a Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) report which noted finding “a mixture of male DNA from two individuals” from a swabbing of Mohd Saiful’s anus. So let the trial begin.

Kgan: Considering the time lag between Saiful’s report and the alleged act (more than three days), any notion of extracting Anwar’s DNA from Saiful’s anus should be laughed out of court.

One visit to the toilet would have disposed of the “evidence”. So didn’t the accuser visit the toilet during that period? However, the judge isn’t picked for his intelligence; he is picked for his obedience. So Anwar has good reason to worry.

In any rape complaint, the first action by the police is to send the complainant to a government doctor to verify penetration. If there is no evidence of penetration, the complaint will be thrown out by the police.

Only in Anwar’s case can an accuser with no evidence of penetration make it to trial. Malaysia Boleh! ‘Satu lagi projek Barisan Nasional’.

Baffled: I don’t quite understand the basis for this judgment. The judge said, “While the medical reports may ‘state no conclusive evidence to suggest penetration’, this court however cannot cancel the charge,” said Mohd Zabidin, adding, “The matter has to go through full trial to also consider the forensic evidence to determine the case.”

Don’t medical reports form the crux of any forensic evidence? Are we back to determining whether Anwar Ibrahim’s DNA is present in that guy’s anus, or on his body, or on his shirt/trousers/bedroom/house or any area within 100km where that guy has been? That only proves Anwar was there at most, or that the evidence was planted.

Eric Koay: What other “forensic” evidence can there be? And what can be used to penetrate but leave no conclusive evidence in regard to the anus? Ah! It must be the legendary ‘Magic Dildo’ where only the smartest people can see and feel, people like the esteemed High Court judge.

Pete: So for all those cases where the sexual act was not concluded, the perpetrators should be set free? How many cases have we had where penetration may not have been completed, but there was intent for such acts, especially on minors by their fiend fathers. Should these people be freed too since no penetration was found?

Come on, we want to see justice done. Let’s have the trial. After all, others have been accused/charged with murder on little evidence other than hearsay.

Mamboking: Remember the first case? When asked by the late Christopher Fernando if he was sodomised, the driver replied, “No!” And the lawyer asked him twice again and (Justice) Augustine Paul asked him a third time, and he still replied “No” to a shocked court house. In the end, although the ‘victim’ said he was not sodomised, the court said there was evidence that he was indeed sodomised.

Only in Malaysia can such a thing happen. They say, “We know and understand that you were not sodomised, but our evidence showed that you were sodomised.” What a joke! I fear history is about to repeat itself.

Lan Aziz: Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I can remember, the accuser in Sodomy Trial 1 did not go through any medical examination.

Azizan Abu Bakar, who claimed to have been sodomised by Anwar “many times”, was not sent for a medical examination to corroborate his allegations. And yet, Anwar was found guilty and jailed.

Jacob George: This is a cowardly decision and a waste of the nation’s time and resources which could be better spent in tackling other more pertinent issues of state.

The only good thing that can result from this episode is that it will again put the nation’s institutions under the scrutiny of the international community, reminding them of the damage done by a former dictator.

4 December 2009

Pendapat

Pendapat Anda?

From Asia Times Online
By Anil Netto

PENANG – The more things change, the more they remain the same in Malaysian politics. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has failed to get a court to strike out a sodomy charge against him, which means the controversial trial that threatens to bump him from politics and land him in prison is set to begin on January 25.

It will represent the second time Anwar faces charges of sodomy, which is considered a criminal act in Malaysia’s Muslim majority society. This time, he faces charges of sodomizing his 24-year-old former personal aide at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur in mid-2008.

For many Malaysians, there is a sense of deja vu with the 1999 trial that involved his wife’s chauffeur. But the Malaysian political landscape has evolved considerably over the “reformasi” years that followed Anwar’s ouster as finance minister from formerpremier Mahathir Mohamad’s government in September 1998, coinciding with the height of the Asian financial crisis.

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4 December 2009

Pendapat

Pendapat Anda?

From The Financial Times
By Kevin Brown

Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian opposition leader facing a criminal trial for sodomy, says the government has miscalculated if it thinks that jailing him will keep it in power at the next election.

Mr Anwar faces his second trial for sodomy in January following the High Court’s rejection of an attempt to have the charges struck out on the grounds that medical evidence showed them to be false and that the prosecution was biased.

The court’s decision is a setback for Mr Anwar, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister, who spent six years in prison on similar charges before Malaysia’s Federal Court overturned his conviction in 2004.

(more…)

4 December 2009

Pendapat

Pendapat Anda?

From The Malaysian Insider
By Lee Wei Lian

KUALA LUMPUR Dec 4 — When aides to the Negri Sembilan mentri besar sent RM10 million to London via a money changer recently, they were just following in the footsteps of many who have sought the hawala system to move ill-gotten gains and wealth to more secure locations.

Apart from flouting exchange laws and possibly the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the trail of money outside the country betrays a lack of confidence in the future of Malaysia as they are basically transferring funds outside the country through underground channels.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is unlikely to charge any of them because the list contains a number of prominent Malaysians, including top businessmen, chiefs of some government-linked companies (GLCs), politicians and several ordinary people either sending money for their children’s needs abroad or just plain distrustful of Malaysia’s future.

(more…)

4 December 2009

Pendapat

Pendapat Anda?

Dato Seri’ Anwar Ibrahim will travel to Melbourne on December 4th and 5th to speak at Monash University and at the Parliament of World’s Religions. During his visit he is expected to hold meetings with Federal Ministers, Members of Parliament and various community leaders.

Anwar Ibrahim is currently Leader of the Opposition and was recently appointed as Economic Advisor to Selangor, the most prosperous of Malaysia’s 13 states. In the 12th Malaysian General last year he forged a political coalition called the Pakatan Rakyat which scored massive victories, breaking the ruling party’s stranglehold in Parliament and gaining control of six of Malaysia’s fourteen states and territories. In the December 2009 issue of Foreign Policy magazine he was listed among the top 100 Global Thinkers.

Anwar Ibrahim was Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1993-1998. An ardent supporter of freedom and democracy and the most vocal critic against corruption, he was dismissed from office in 1998 and imprisoned by then Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamed after a trial widely believed to have been politically motivated. After serving six years in solitary confinement the Malaysian Courts overturned his conviction. He assumed teaching positions at Oxford, Johns Hopkins and Georgetown University, lecturing on issues of democracy and contemporary politics in Southeast Asia. He is also on the Advisory Board of the International Crisis Group.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

The Parliament of World Religions is a global gathering of religious leaders that takes place every five years. This year over 10,000 participants will travel to Melbourne representing the major world religions. At the Parliament of World Religions Anwar Ibrahim will be speaking on December 4th at 2:30 PM on the panel “Democracy and Diversity in a Global Perspective.” On December 5th at 9:30 AM he will address the issue of “Islam and Politics: Faith, Governance and Society”. The events will take place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in South Wharf.

On December 4th at 6:00 PM Anwar IBrahim will deliver the 2009 Herb Feith Lecture at the Melbourne City Convention Centre on “Asia After the Crisis: Recovery and Reform”. The lecture is cosponsored by the Monash Asia Institute, the Herb Feith Foundation, the Monash University Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology, the RMIT Globalism Research Centre and the University of Melbourne National Centre for Excellence in Islamic Studies. The public lecture is presented in honour of one of Australia’s finest scholars, Herb Feith. The convention center is located at 333 Swanson Street.

Office of Anwar Ibrahim