FAC News - Thursday, April 17, 2003 7:00 AM

If war criminals can be allowed bail, why not Anwar?

“If war criminals can be allowed bail, why not Anwar?” asks the latest issue of Seruan Keadilan, the National Justice Party newspaper, which hit the streets today.

In its Bahasa Malaysia headline story, Seruan Keadilan said:

War criminals are allowed bail. Anwar Ibrahim, though, was forced to sit in prison for seven months while he faced trial on trumped-up charges of “corruption” – even though he had yet exhausted all avenues to appeal the conviction and sentence.

Then, after the heavy six-year sentence was passed down, the court refused to take these seven months detention into consideration and ruled that the six years was to start from the day of sentencing, and not from the day of detention.

Effectively, therefore, Anwar was sentenced to six years and seven months jail. After a one-third remission, this sentence was supposed to have been served on 14 April 2003.

Anwar has applied for bail, this time for the second conviction for an alleged crime of “sodomy”, where he is currently serving a nine-year sentence.

If people facing more serious “crimes against humanity” can be allowed bail, there is no reason why Anwar, who is facing a lesser charge, cannot also be allowed bail.

Recently, prosecutors in East Timor indicted the territory's former police chief and three ex-militia leaders for “crimes against humanity” during the territory's bloody breakaway from Indonesia in 1999.

Also charged in three separate indictments were Eurico Guterres, commander of the feared Aitarak militia, Egidio Manek, deputy commander of the Laksaur militia, and Cancio Lopes de Carvalho, head of the Mahidi militia.

Indonesia's rights court ordered Guterres jailed for ten years but he remains free pending an appeal.

Simultaneously, they also indicted Indonesia's former defence minister and military chief, Wiranto, plus six other senior Indonesian officers and the then governor for murder, deportation and persecution of independence supporters.

Over 5,000 refugees seeking shelter inside Bishop Belo's residence were forcibly evacuated and deported from East Timor by Indonesian soldiers, police officers and militia.

Silaen, Guterres and other militia members were charged with the forced deportation of civilians from Dili into Indonesian West Timor between September 5 and 9, 1999.

Another indictment charges 14 Laksaur militiamen including Manek with 51 counts of crimes against humanity including extermination, murder, enforced disappearance, rape, torture, inhumane acts, deportation and persecution of civilians in Covalima district between January and December 1999.

A third indictment charges 22 Mahidi militia members including Carvalho with similar crimes.

Though all these people are facing serious charges, yet they need not sit in jail while they fight against these charges. Anwar Ibrahim, however, “resides” in jail on “offences” that have clearly been fabricated.