From The Guardian

A Malaysian court has acquitted the country’s opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, of sodomy charges in a shock ruling that could fast-forward the former deputy prime minister’s political comeback ahead of an expected election this year.

Anwar, 64, was charged in 2008 with having sex with a male former aide, and could have faced whipping and up to 20 years in jail if found guilty. Under Malaysian law sex between males is a punishable offence even if consensual.

The case rested primarily on testimony by Anwar’s 26-year-old accuser, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, as well as semen samples found on Saiful’s body that investigators said matched Anwar’s DNA. Defence lawyers contended that Saiful’s testimony about the alleged sodomy, at a Kuala Lumpur apartment in 2008, was riddled with inconsistencies and the DNA evidence mishandled by investigators.

In his ruling, judge Mohamad Zabidin Diah expressed concern that the submitted evidence was tainted and told a packed Kuala Lumpur courtroom: “The court at this stage could not with 100% certainty exclude the possibility that the [DNA] sample is not compromised. Therefore it is not safe to rely on the sample.

“There is no evidence to corroborate” the charge, he added.

As his family burst into tears at the verdict, a jubilant Anwar greeted reporters. “Thank God justice has prevailed,” Anwar said. “I have been vindicated. To be honest I am a little surprised.”

Some 5,000 opposition supporters had gathered outside the court chanting “reform” as a police helicopter flew overhead and riot police, backed by a truck mounted with a water cannon, watched the crowd.

Three explosions were reported outside the courthouse, with a preliminary investigation finding two explosive devices underneath police cones. Two people were injured and taken to hospital, but it is unclear who was responsible.

Monday’s judgment is seen as a positive step forward for Malaysia’s judicial system and could have a major impact on upcoming general elections, which the prime minister, Najib Razak, is widely expected to call this year.

Najib hopes to regain a strong mandate after suffering in recent popularity polls and has promised economic and civil liberty reforms.

Anwar and his supporters long contested the sodomy allegations as a government plot to weaken his three-party coalition. The charges emerged after the coalition made unprecedented gains in the 2008 general elections against the ruling National Front alliance, which has ruled Malaysia for more than 50 years (more…)

(1) The lack of full disclosure: Both prior to and during the trial itself, the legal team for the defence was denied access to certain documents and physical evidence in the possession of the prosecution, which disadvantaged the accused in the preparation of his defence;

(2) Unreliable DNA evidence: There were obvious concerns that the DNA sample submitted as evidence was unreliable or may have been compromised.

(3) Certain unusual findings during the trial proceedings:

(a) The trial judge made an unprecedented finding at the end of the prosecution’s case that the complainant was a truthful and credible witness, without the benefit of having heard the defence.

(b) While the court allowed the Prime Minister and his wife to be interviewed by the defence legal team, the subpoena issued by the defence compelling the attendance of the Prime Minister and his wife was set aside by the High Court upon the application of the prosecution.  The absence of curiosity in this regard casts grave concerns on the credibility of the complaint in the first place.

(4) The unrefuted relationship between the complainant and a member of the prosecution team, which raised serious questions whether the complainant had access to investigation papers, which would have enabled him to tailor his evidence at trial.

Al Jazeera Interview: Anwar Ibrahim acquitted in sodomy case

From The New York Times

Ending a politically charged two-year trial, Malaysia’s High Court acquitted the country’s opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, of sodomy charges on Monday.

Judge Zabidin Mohamad Diah told the packed courtroom here in the capital that the DNA evidence offered by the prosecutors was unreliable, and that in sex-offense cases the court was reluctant to convict on uncorroborated testimony alone.

The courtroom erupted in cheers after the verdict, as did thousands of Mr. Anwar’s supporters gathered outside. Mr. Anwar, appearing surprised by the outcome, hugged his family and told reporters, “Thank God justice has prevailed.”

Sodomy, even between consenting adults, remains a crime in Malaysia, where most of the population is Muslim, and Mr. Anwar, 64, could have been sentenced to a term of up to 20 years if convicted. A prison sentence of a year or more would have barred Mr. Anwar from public office for five years after release.

Mr. Anwar has claimed that the case was concocted by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration to damage the opposition’s political standing. Mr. Najib has denied plotting against Mr. Anwar, who served as deputy prime minister in the 1990s.

He was prosecuted once before on charges of sodomy and abuse of power, convicted and jailed, in a case that was also denounced by his supporters as politically motivated. The High Court threw out that conviction in 2004.

Mr. Anwar then led the opposition to major gains in the 2008 elections, depriving the governing party of a two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time since independence in 1957; a few months later he was charged again, this time with sodomizing a former political aide. Mr. Anwar has described the allegation as a “blatant and vicious lie.”

Though the case was widely condemned by human rights organizations and prominent voices in the West, including former Vice President Al Gore and Paul D. Wolfowitz, the former deputy secretary of defense, the trial was widely expected to end in a conviction. That would have sidelined Mr. Anwar for the next national elections, which are expected later this year.

“Anwar was acquitted on a charge that should have never been brought in the first place,” said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch after the trial. “Hopefully this verdict sends a message to the government to put this matter to rest.”

The government seemed inclined to make the best of the court’s decision. The information minister, Rais Yatim, issued a statement saying, “Malaysia has an independent judiciary, and this verdict proves that the government does not hold sway over judges’ decisions.”

Din Merican

ON MONDAY (January 9, 2012) a struggle over human rights and democracy will come to a head in an important Muslim country. The site is not Egypt or Turkey but Malaysia, a country of 28 million that, as it has prospered economically, has grown an opposition movement that is pressing an authoritarian regime to share power.

The opposition’s leader is Anwar Ibrahim, whose multiethnic alliance shocked the ruling party in several state elections in 2008 and who has a chance to oust Prime Minister Najib Razak in national elections expected in the next few months, if the vote is free and fair.

All that explains why on Monday Mr. Anwar will find himself not on the campaign trail but in a courtroom, where he is likely to be given a lengthy prison sentence. The charge is homosexual sodomy, which Malaysia shamefully still treats as a crime.

Mr. Anwar, who is 64 and married with children, denies the charge; he claims, plausibly, to have been framed by the government. His 26-year-old accuser met with Mr. Najib two days before the alleged sexual encounter took place. The case was brought shortly after the opposition’s 2008 victories and is coming to a conclusion just as new elections approach.

Mr. Anwar has been persecuted before. After a falling out with a previous prime minister, he was charged with sodomy in 1998 and spent six years in prison before being exonerated. Since then he has become one of the best-known advocates for liberal democracy in the Muslim world. The coalition he has fashioned of secular, Muslim and ethnic Chinese groups could make Malaysia the second majority-Muslim country in Asia, after Indonesia, to become a working democracy. (more…)

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
 
Tanggal esok 9 Januari 2012 ini, penghakiman kes Fitnah Liwat II akan termaktub dalam sejarah, samada sebagai detik penentuan keadilan ditegakkan ataupun hari gelap buat kedaulatan undang-undang dan kepada mereka yang perjuangkan keadilan.
 
Saya menyeru seluruh rakyat Malaysia agar membulatkan tekad serta iltizam dalam menuntut pembaharuan politik. Mereka boleh mengaibkan saya, mereka boleh menghumban saya ke penjara, mereka boleh menginjak hak rakyat dan mereka boleh memukul kita hanya kerana berkumpul, akan tetapi mereka takkan dapat merampas kehormatan diri, maruah serta semangat kita untuk melakukan apa yang benar dan memperjuangkan apa yang kita percaya.
 
Mengulangi fitnah keji sejak dari 1998 lagi terhadap diri saya dan sepanjang sandiwara perbicaraan yang panjang ini, pelbagai fitnah dan tohmahan telah dilemparkan, namun ianya tidak menghakis keyakinan rakyat.  Kita telah menyaksikan betapa polis, pihak pendakwaan dan kehakiman serta media yang dikawal UMNO berganding bahu memastikan agar kerajaan BN yang rasuah dan zalim ini terus berkuasa.
 
Walau apa pun jua penghakiman yang akan diputuskan nanti, ia harus tetap melonjakkan semangat dan keyakinan menuntut perubahan bagi menegakkan hukum, melaksanakan sistem ekonomi saksama dan memupuk semangat persaudaraan yang tulen. Usaha dan upaya mestilah digembeling demi membanteras kezaliman, rasuah dan penyalahgunaan kuasa. Pastikan pada Pilihanraya Umum ke 13 nanti, kebangkitan rakyat akan menghumban penguasa angkuh  dari tampuk pemerintahan.
 
Mereka mungkin berhasrat memenjara dan merantai saya tetapi mereka takkan sesekali dapat memasung jiwa dan semangat saya. Di sini saya mengulangi ikrar bahawa saya tidak akan berhenti selagi kita belum berjaya melaksanakan Perubahan dan  menghapuskan segala kebejatan yang dilakukan oleh kerajaan UMNO-BN dan membangunkan sebuah bangsa yang adil lagi saksama. Berbekalkan semangat perjuangan yang murni serta bertawakal kepada Allah, Inshaallah, perjuangan kita akan mencapai kejayaan. 
 
Saya akan tetap bersama anda semua di hati dan jiwa saya dan bersama-samalah kita bina sebuah negara Malaysia yang baharu.
 
ANWAR IBRAHIM
 
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