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Friday, 23-Jan-2004 6:53 PM STATEMENT BY DATO' SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM On the Court of Appeal's Dismissal of his Application for Bail The entire sordid episode of trumped-up charges against me, and all the decisions taken so far, have flown right in the face of the spirit and also the letter of the law. PM Abdullah Badawi must free himself from the stranglehold put in place by the political machinations of Dr. Mahathir. It is hypocritical and scandalous when the PM talks about separation of powers while the judiciary remains firmly under the thumb of the executive; when he exhorts people to practise tolerance, yet the media are still muzzled; and when he condemns corrupt practices, but corrupt ministers continue to be protected. I call on PM Abdullah to put an immediate stop to this charade. You, the judges, deny me this right to bail on the flimsiest of grounds, and after taking 9 months to make the decision. You seem to suffer from collective amnesia in your blatant denial of an undisputed fact, conceded even by the prosecution, on the Notice of Alibi. Clearly, you have abrogated your oath of office to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law. Anwar Ibrahim 21 January 2004
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