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Wednesday, 21-Jan-2004 9:22 PM Anwar denied bail on instructions of Pak Lah Yesterday, Justice Pajan Singh Gill asked Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a.k.a Pak Lah, how they should rule with regards to Anwar Ibrahim’s bail application. Abdullah’s instructions were simple: there should be no change. Armed with that, Malaysia’s Appeal Court today ruled that Anwar is to be denied bail. When Anwar angrily stood up and demanded that the grounds for such a decision be stated, the judges refused. They are only prepared to go so far as to say “no”. They will not reveal their reasons for saying “no”. It was utter chaos in court today as Anwar shouted at the judges, they in turn threatened him with contempt and the public gallery responded with resounding jeers and boos. Never in Malaysia, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, does the public gallery in a courtroom degrade judges as what happened today in Malaysia’s Palace of Justice. Malaysia’s new court complex in the nation’s flamboyant capital, Putrajaya, is aptly called a palace for it certainly puts India’s Taj Mahal to shame. But to add “justice” to its name makes a mockery of the word for justice was nowhere to be seen today. The Appeal Court also refused Anwar’s request for a copy of the notes of the trial proceedings so that he could properly prepare his appeal papers. The Appeal Court had earlier upheld Anwar’s conviction and nine-year jail term for sodomy so he will now have to take his appeal to the higher Federal Court. But to do that he must first be privy to the reasons the Appeal Court upheld the verdict. Only then can Anwar effectively challenge these grounds. One extremely crucial point that Anwar can cite would be the main ground for the Appeal Court upholding the verdict and that is he did not file his Notice of Alibi, which is mandatory. Anwar, in fact, did file his Notice of Alibi and the prosecution has even filed an Affidavit confirming it is in receipt of it and that a copy had also been extended to the court. For the court to now say that Anwar has failed to comply with this very crucial and mandatory point and that is why he should stay in jail is a serious error on its part. The judges were in fact quite taken aback when told that the Notice of Alibi had been filed, that the prosecution was in receipt of it, and that the court too had been extended a copy. The entire judgment rested on this one “strong” point and now this has been demolished. And the notes of the trial proceedings would expose this, so the court refuses to hand over those notes which would give Anwar the ammunition he needs to not only get his conviction overturned but probably even get the trial declared a mistrial. The court had put all its money on one horse thinking it is a winner instead of spreading it out and this one horse turned out to be a donkey. No judge who proudly backed an animal he thought was a stallion likes to be told he was in fact punting on a donkey. And the judges know if Anwar gets his hands on the notes of the trial proceedings they are going to be made the laughing stock of the entire legal fraternity. The bottom line is, the decision had been made before the hearing started. They had already decided Anwar must be kept in jail and the only thing now is to match a reason to it. It is like trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole so they pretend the hole is also square. But pretend all you want, a round hole is a round hole and no square peg can ever fit into it. So they hide the peg and refuse to show it lest everyone sees it for what it is. So Anwar will not get to see the notes of the trial proceedings and without it he can never use the points in the notes to argue his case. What you can’t see can’t hurt us. It is as simple as that. The next general election is just around the corner, probably in six weeks or so. To let Anwar out now would be political suicide. With Anwar behind bars the ruling party managed to only garner 54% of the votes. With Anwar free, the ruling party might as well not hold any election for it will surely be massacred. The ruling party claims it has four million members. But with four million members it only garnered 3.1 million votes. And it needed 14 coalition member parties to achieve this. The opposition is a coalition of only four parties if the Democratic Action Party were to be included. And it has only about one million members. But it managed to garner 2.6 million votes. And that was with Anwar behind bars. Today, there are about two million new voters, first-time young voters -- the backbone of the Reformasi Movement. By the ruling party’s own estimates, these newcomers are predominantly anti-establishment and would probably give the ruling party a trouncing. Can they therefore allow Anwar to see freedom whereby he can mobilise support? Abdullah has another problem to face other than Anwar, and that is a challenge from inside his own party. He has just appointed a deputy not of his own choice, Najib Razak. Najib was previous Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s choice and it was Mahathir and not Abdullah who announced Najib’s appointment the night before Abdullah made the “official” announcement. Abdullah was furious and instructed a total news blackout until he could make the announcement himself. How would it look to the world if the previous Prime Minister and not him who announces Najib as the new Deputy Prime Minister? Umno knows Abdullah does not have a grip on things. The cabinet reshuffle the following day where “Mahathir’s men” were given key appointments only strengthens this perception. How can Abdullah then allow Anwar to walk free? Mahathir was strong. He kept Anwar in jail by hook and mostly by crook. Anyone who releases Anwar is too weak to walk in Mahathir’s shoes. It is as clear as night is to day that Mahathir is still in charge, at least as far as running the country is concerned. But Anwar is now Abdullah’s and not Mahathir’s problem. Abdullah can at least show he is still in charge and no pushover when it comes to Anwar -- even if the appointment of his Deputy and cabinet are beyond his control -- and that he can be as brutal as Mahathir in dealing with Anwar. In the Anwar episode, Mahathir is out of the picture. It is now Abdullah’s show. And today’s decision to keep Anwar in jail was Abdullah’s. Reformasi will now be refocusing. It must adjust its sight. There is a new enemy in our midst. Forget Mahathir. He is Abdullah’s headache and a headache to Abdullah he certainly is. Abdullah is this new enemy of Reformasi. For all that Abdullah is saying and doing there is really no change. The judiciary is still being manipulated. The judges are still in the Prime Minister’s pocket. The judges, just like during Mahathir’s time, consult the Prime Minister the day before they make any ruling and rule only to the whims of the Prime Minister. Mahathir may have put Anwar in jail. That is old news and not worth our time talking about any longer. It is who is keeping Anwar in jail that is the issue. And that man is Abdullah. Abdullah must be brought down and brought down hard. Abdullah thinks he may have finished off Anwar. Far from it! What he has done is merely rekindle the fire of Reformasi. Reformasi is burning in the hearts of the Reformists. Let Abdullah be warned. He is now on notice. The Malays are a tolerant and patient race, sometimes too tolerant and patient to the point of complacency. But beware of an angry Malay for an angry Malay is an uncontrollable Malay. Does not the word “amok” come from the Malay vocabulary? The west does not have a culture of amok so much so it has to borrow the word from the Malays. And when the Malays amok they do not go halfway as history has proven.
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