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Thursday, 22-Jan-2004 11:32 AM THE ANWAR IBRAHIM HEARING: 21 January 2004 DECISIONS, DECISIONS, AND NONE OF THEM JUST Animah Annette Ferrar The faithful supporters of Anwar Ibrahim (and justice) began arriving at the Palace of Justice in the morning, many of them for the first time. It is not an easy place to reach if you rely on public transport, and for any occasional visitor to this vast, instant metropolis it takes a lot of roaming through its miles of stately highways to find one’s intended destination. By twelve the crowd was swelling, the large porch gradually filling up, and the number of police personnel in attendance grew in accordance. Despite the palatial new building and the spacious proportions of the courtroom, it was a disappointment to discover that the number of seats in the public gallery is less than generous. Many supporters who had made such a big effort to come were thus destined to be left standing perpetually in the porch. As usual, however, the Reformasi crowd is good-natured, patient and disciplined, and the waiting time was put to good use catching up with friends, and with Reformasi and other political news. The court session was to deliver two decisions related to the joint sodomy case of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja. The decisions were on the application for bail, and on the motion to re-open the Court of Appeal hearing to correct an error which had prejudiced the judgment. In the packed courtroom the sitting, scheduled for 3 pm, eventually started 35 minutes late. Justice Pajan Singh Gill, the head of the 3-member team first delivered the judges’ decision on the motion to re-open the Court of Appeal hearing. He announced that they were unanimous in their decision. He said that counsel for the first appellant, Karpal Singh had admitted there was no specific allowance for the Court of Appeal to re-open a case which it had already disposed of, and on the other hand Tan Sri Gani Patail for the prosecution had shown that the court indeed had no such jurisdiction. Their decision, therefore, was that the motion was dismissed. Silence from the gallery. Yet another disappointment. Justice Gill then moved on to deliver the long-awaited decision on the application for bail. He said that once again the decision of the judges was unanimous and was based on the arguments they had heard related to both facts and to law. They had written very detailed grounds for their decision which would be released later. The decision was: there are no special circumstances for this court to grant bail and therefore the application is dismissed. That was it. Not a single ground mentioned orally in court. At this, Anwar addressed Justice Gill in a loud voice: “Can we at least hear what some of these grounds are?” The request was echoed more officially by Karpal Singh. Justice Gill, possibly still smarting from the grilling he had been given by both of them over the past two days, waved a bundle of papers in the air – presumably copies of the decision – and said somewhat acidly: “We will give you a copy after this.” Both Karpal and Anwar continued to urge the judge to state at least some of the grounds, at which Justice Gill snapped back at Anwar that he (Anwar) had no right to comment on the court proceedings, and that he should respect the bench. Anwar fired back: “We will respect the judges when the judges show some respect for us – shame on you!” By this time those in the gallery could no longer contain their frustration and anger at what they felt was gross injustice, and several voices could be heard denigrating the judges. Since the judges had completed their role they now made a swift exit, distinctly lacking in the usual dignity. There was no point in the court official shouting “All rise!”, because most people had already leapt to their feet in anger. It was now AG Gani Patail’s turn to get a taste of Anwar’s disdain: “I will go back to my cell in the prison and get as good a night’s sleep as my back injury will allow, but you – you will go back to your comfortable home, but will your conscious allow you to get a good night’s sleep? You talk loftily of upholding justice and the rule of law, but it is nothing but deceit and hypocrisy. It is shameful and sickening, and unworthy of one who holds a top post in the judiciary!” Gani gathered his papers as quickly as possible and beat a hasty retreat. By this time more than half those present in the court-room were in tears – not only family members and hard-core supporters but even the prison guards. They were tears of anger and also tears of pity for this amazing man who, despite long years of suffering caused by the cruelty of his political enemies, still retains his dignity as well as his fighting spirit. Even the foreign press and embassy personnel remained in the court-room, riveted by the emotional atmosphere. It was Anwar himself who turned to all of them to try and raise their spirits, asking them not be disheartened. His kissed and hugged his family members one by one, he addressed the supporters many of whom he knows by name, and asked them all to be strong and to carry on with the effort to make reforms in the country. Anwar also addressed the foreign press and embassy representatives, appealing to them to highlight the continuing injustice which has dogged his case. “Our local media will barely make any mention of it, so we hope that you will give it better coverage.” In the court-room Anwar’s youngest daughter, 12-year-old Nurul Hana, possibly alarmed by the highly-charged atmosphere as much as overcome by feelings of desolation, had broken down sobbing. But half an hour later, as the family car drove past the remaining supporters she was leaning out of the window brandishing a Free Anwar poster and lustily shouting “RE-FOR-MA-SI!” to which the bystanders warmly responded until the car was out of sight.
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