Monday, 22-Sep-2003 1:14 PM

What was the real reason Anwar was sacked and arrested?

What was the real reason Anwar was sacked from the government on 2 September 1998 and subsequently arrested on 20 September? Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been relating different reasons at different times.

On 22 September 1998, this is what Dr Mahathir told the nation on prime-time TV:

“He was holding many illegal meetings and rallies around the country.

He was not arrested, but the climax came on Sunday when he instigated his followers to riot, to be violent, to attack certain places, and it is clear that he was working up emotion in order to develop the kind of situation that was found in Indonesia when these people rioted daily and tried to obstruct the normal life in the city.

And they hoped that that way, they could overthrow the government, in particular overthrow me, which is not a very great consequence anyway since I am 73 years old and cannot last forever.

But the fact is that he wished to damage peace and order in this city.

Police had to arrest Anwar immediately The police had to act and it is their intention that they want to arrest and charge him in the normal court of law.

It was not their intention to arrest under the Internal Security Act.

However, because of his incitement to violence, they had to take him earlier than they proposed ... So they have now arrested him under the ISA, but I believe it was their intention to bring him before the court and charge him in the normal manner.”

Two years later, during an interview in Japan, Dr Mahathir related how be brought Anwar into Umno to prevent him falling into the hands of the opposition party, PAS, where he could do damage to Umno. Dr Mahathir added that he thought Anwar would toe the party line once he joined the government. Unfortunately, said Dr Mahathir, he could not control Anwar so he had no choice but to remove him instead.

But, on 2 September 1998, Dr Mahathir said he removed Anwar because of his sexual misconduct, not because he could not control Anwar. And, as to the reason why Anwar was arrested, this is what the Royal Commission of Inquiry that sat from 22 February to 4 March 1999 to investigate Anwar’s beating was told.

There was actually a plot to arrest Anwar long before 20 September 1998, and this was confirmed by Dato Yaacob Md Amin, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who testified in the Inquiry.

“In June 1998, the CID was in the process of investigating Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim,” said Dato Yaacob. “I was informed from time to time regarding the progress of the investigation.”

“On 20 September 1998, a decision had been made to arrest Dato Seri Anwar,” added Dato Yaacob. “I do not know when the decision was actually made to arrest Dato Seri Anwar on that night.”

“The decision had been made before the 20 September 1998. The arrest of Dato Seri Anwar was under Section 377 of the Penal Code. The decision was made a week before 20 September 1998.”

“The arrest was not carried out then because I was waiting for the right time, correct time, to arrest Dato Seri Anwar.”

“The decision to arrest Dato Seri Anwar under Section 377 of the Penal Code was made by the AG’s Chambers.”

Dato Yaacob Md Amin confirmed the decision to arrest Anwar was made one week before the actual arrest, and, according to him, Anwar was arrested under Section 377 of the Penal Code, not under the ISA. However, after they had beaten up Anwar, they held an emergency meeting on the 30th floor of the Police Headquarters at Bukit Aman. This decision was taken because Anwar had been beaten up and they needed to hold him incommunicado. If not, they would have to produce him in court within 24 hours to charge him and the whole world would then see Anwar’s injuries. Under the ISA, they could hold him up to 60 days without producing him in court.

“At that meeting, it was decided that Dato Seri Anwar is to be arrested under the Internal Security Act,” said Dato Yaacob. “There was no discussion regarding what happened to Dato Seri Anwar in the cell.”

But, because of the outrage and international pressure, they had to drop the ISA detention and instead charge him in court, and they chose the corruption and sodomy charges as the excuse.

Anwar’s beating was also not spontaneous as what Dr Mahathir had said but was carefully planned.

“On 20 September 1998, at about 10.00pm, I received a telephone call from Dato Yaacob (CID Director) asking me to go to the lockup to supervise the detention of Dato Seri Anwar,” said Dato Ramli Yusoff, his Deputy Director.

“Tan Sri Rahim and Dato Yaacob came…Tan Sri Rahim stopped at the entrance and I saw Tan Sri Rahim showing a hand signal meaning ‘blindfold’.”

“Tan Sri Rahim gave a signal with his finger meaning ‘quiet’. He also gave a signal to ‘handcuff’. I took the signal to mean as an instruction to blindfold and handcuff Dato Seri Anwar. The other signal is for everyone to keep quiet.”

“I saw ASP Zulkifli gave a hand signal with a thumb up ‘OK’ to me. I believe Tan Sri Rahim saw the signal.”

“After that, I saw Tan Sri Rahim heading to the cell number six where Dato Seri Anwar was. At that time, I and Dato Yaacob were following him from behind.”

“When Tan Sri Rahim entered the passage, I was at the counter. After he had entered, then only I moved.”

“When I was about halfway to the passage, I heard a voice from cell number six. I heard, “Adoi, ya Allah, janganlah pukul saya, (“Ow, oh God, don’t beat me”).”

“That’s all I heard. In a voice as if pleading,” said Dato Ramli Yusoff, the Deputy Director of the CID, to the Royal Commission of Inquiry.

“I did not hear any (other) words before I heard the words, “Adoi, Allah, jangan pukul saya,” coming from the cell.”

(This, therefore, debunks the story that Anwar had called Rahim a dog and that was why Rahim lost his temper and beat up Anwar).

“At that moment I rushed into the cell. I saw Dato Seri Anwar was lying down, face up, on the cement slab, and I also noticed Tan Sri Rahim with his hand swinging.”

“I immediately, spontaneously, held Tan Sri Rahim’s right hand and pushed him backwards away from Dato Seri Anwar until he was off-balance.”

“At that time, I saw Dato Yaacob (CID Director) holding Tan Sri Rahim’s pants from behind and both of us pushed him out of the cell, and led him out of the lockup.”

“I turned back and went inside cell number six. I saw the injuries sustained by Dato Seri Anwar. I saw swelling on his left forehead. I then instructed ASP Rodwan to apply compression and ointment on the forehead.”

“There was a brief meeting on the 11th floor. We spoke and discussed among ourselves the injuries sustained by Dato Seri Anwar and also to put up the necessary report. At that time, I received a call from ASP Rodwan. He informed me that the swelling sustained by Dato Seri Anwar had increased.”

“I informed Tan Sri Rahim about the injuries on Dato Seri Anwar and asked him what I should do. He instructed me in English, “Leave it to me.” He did not mention to me regarding the arrest.”

“At about 1.00am on the 21st September 1998, I received a phone call from Dato Yaacob instructing me to detain Dato Seri Anwar under the ISA.”

So, by the police’s own admission, Anwar was not arrested under the ISA because he was a threat to national security or because of the demonstrations. This decision was made later, after he had been beaten up, and the decision to arrest him was made one week before the actual arrest. And he was not sacked, as Dr Mahathir himself admitted, because of his sexual misconduct but because he could not be controlled.

The country has been told a lot of crap about what really happened.

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