Chronology of the Case Against Anwar Ibrahim

by the Human Rights Watch

November, 1998

A power struggle between Prime Minister Mahathir and his deputy, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had been building for several years, but it intensified as the economic crisis worsened. Anwar increasingly took a pro-free market approach sympathetic to foreign investment and trade liberalization, while Mahathir advocated currency controls and blamed the West and Western currency speculators in particular for his country's economic plight. By mid-year, borrowing the reform slogans from neighboring Indonesia, Anwar's supporters within the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party were making corruption and nepotism major political issues, with Mahathir and his associates the unstated target.

In May, 50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Jadi PM (50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Become Prime Minister), a book containing graphic sexual allegations as well as accusations of corruption against Anwar, was published in Kuala Lumpur. In early June, the book was circulated at the annual meeting of UMNO. It was during that meeting that Mahathir apparently began strengthening his control over the party and making moves against Anwar. Days later, Anwar obtained a court injunction to prevent further distribution of the book and filed a defamation complaint against the author.

In July, a visit by the Indonesian opposition leader Amien Rais led to more pointed comparisons of Malaysia and Indonesia. Domestic critics accused Mahathir of tolerating cronyism, and the international financial press and the IMF demanded greater transparency in government and UMNO-managed enterprises.

In August, police charged the author of the 50 Reasons book with malicious publishing of false news. But in September, the judge who had banned the book's distribution--a pro-Anwar decision--was transferred, raising concerns among Malaysian lawyers about a judiciary whose independence was already problematic. Key events in the still unfolding crisis are as follows:

July 14: Johan Jaaffar, editor-in-chief of Utusan Malaysia, an UMNO-owned newspaper, resigns after political pressure from UMNO leadership. The paper, under Jaaffar's leadership, had focused on the need for political and economic reform. "Whoever replaces Johan should understand the struggle of UMNO--to serve the president of the party," a spokesman for the publisher said. "We cannot have someone with his own agenda." (AFP, July 20, 1998). Another editor, Ahmad Nazri Abdullah, resigns from Berita Harian four days later.

August 12: Businessman K.S. Nallakruppan, an Anwar associate, is arrested on a charge of unlawful possession of live ammunition. He is charged under Section 57(1)(b) of the ISA which carries a mandatory death sentence if convicted. Affidavits later filed at the High Court also accused Nallakaruppan of arranging some of Anwar's sexual liaisons and suggested that because they traveled together abroad, Nallakruppan may have had access to official secrets. (Nalla, as he is known, has since accused officials of the Criminal Investigation Department of not allowing him to see his lawyers on September 1 and September 15. His trial on the ISA charges is to be heard on November 9.)

September 2: Anwar sacked as deputy prime minister and finance minister

September 3: Anwar expelled from UMNO.

September 14: Mohamad Ahmad, Anwar's former private secretary, is arrested under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with police investigations into the book, 50 Reasons. He is later unconditionally released on September 23.

September 16: Mohamed Azmin Ali, another of Anwar's former private secretaries, is remanded to prison to "facilitate investigations" into the book, 50 Reasons. He said he had been called for questioning since 1995 in connection with corruption, and that he had been questioned seven times about the contents of the book. He was also given a DNA test in July and said police were trying to force him to be retested, since the results of the first had been tampered with. He was released unconditionally on September 22.

September 18: Anwar supporters hold a political rally at the stadium in Kota Bharu; police had rejected a permit for the rally and say organizers will be charged under the Police Act. They say applications for permits must be made two weeks before a public gathering. Police seize more than 500 cassettes of Anwar speeches, on the grounds that the content may be seditious. ("Police Know Identity of Anwar's Roadshow Organisers," Utusan Malaysia, September 21, 1998) Perlis police deny a permit for another Anwar rally, this time on security grounds.

September 19: Two close Anwar associates, his former speechwriter, Munawar Anees, 51, and Anwar's adopted brother, Sukma Dermawan, are sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to engaging in "unnatural sex" and allowing Anwar to sodomize them. They had been arrested on September 14. They later recant their testimonies and appeal their convictions on the grounds that their guilty pleas were involuntary. The lawyer for Munawar is Balwant Singh Sidhu, who is also the lawyer for Datuk S. Nallkaruppan.

September 20: Anwar is arrested at his home by police, after some 35,000 of his supporters marched to demand the prime minister's resignation. Also arrested following the demonstration were six others including UMNO youth leader Zahid Hamidi and several officers of the Malaysia Islamic Youth Organization (Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia or ABIM). All are detained under Section 73(1) of the ISA.

September 26: A demonstration of more than 3,000 Anwar supporters in Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur, is broken up by police, and 29 demonstrators are held for questioning under the Police Act.

September 29: Anwar appears for the first time in public to be formally charged on five counts each of corruption and "unnatural sex."He has a black eye and a bruised right hand and accuses his captors of beating him on the night of his arrest until he was bloody and half-conscious. The charges involve engaging in carnal intercourse with five people at different times and places between December 1993 and Aprill 1998; interfering with an Anti-Corruption Agency investigation into the activities of his private secretary; and trying to interfere with police interrogation of witnesses to his alleged sodomy. The lead counsel for Anwar is Raja Aziz.

In response to questions about whether Mahathir knew of Anwar's beating by police, an UMNO lawyer said that under Section 73 of the ISA police did not have to inform the Home Minister (a post Mahathir also holds) about every stage of investigations and every action taken against detainees; they did not even have to inform the Home Minister of arrests.

September 30: UMNO Youth head Zahid Hamidi is released unconditionally, together with four ABIM leaders. Zahid resigns from UMNO the next day. All had been arrested on September 20.

October 5: Kuala Lumpur High Court places gag order on public discussion of Anwar case

October 10: Malaysian Bar Council meets in extraordinary session and passes a series of resolutions unanimously calling for repeal of the ISA, for all persons detained under it either to be released or to be charged under other laws, and for the government to respect the constitutional freedoms of movement, peaceful assembly, association, speech, and expression.

October 14: Anwar released from ISA detention after 24 days but remanded to Sungai Baloh prison after his application for bail was rejected on the grounds that there was "a danger of witnesses being tampered with as the charges involved interference with witnesses." ("Anwar released from ISA detention," New Straits Times, October 15, 1998) Four people arrested on September 20 in connection with the Anwar case remain in detention under the ISA: they are Zulkifi Nordin, a lawyer, who was arrested on September 29; Ruslan Kassim, a lawyer and UMNO youth chief for the state of Negeri Sembilan; Abdul Malek Hussein, former executive secretary of the opposition party, PAS; and Haji Shaari Sungit, president of Jemaah Islah Malaysia, who was arrested on October 12. Fourteen others were released.

October 17: police forcibly break up a rally of thousands in support of reform in central Kuala Lumpur; 140 are detained, of whom 128 were eventually charged on October 21 with taking part in an illegal assembly under Section 27 of the 1967 Police Act. All but one pleaded not guilty; they were released on bail of RM1,000 each.

October 21: Home Ministry warns vendors and bookstores to stop selling Harakah, the Malay-language newspaper published by the opposition party, PAS, as its publication permit did not allow it to be sold to non-PAS members. It was also publishing distorted and sensational news, the ministry said.

October 24: police break up another rally of thousands at Merdeka Square, using pepper spray and water cannons. The rally turns violent, and over 278 people are arrested.

October 26: Shaari Sungit released unconditionally from ISA detention.

October 27: Zulkifli Nordin released unconditionally from ISA detention.

October 28: Sukma Darmawan files habeas corpus petition claiming his conviction and sentencing were unlawful, because as a Muslim, he should have been tried in a Muslim court (the Syariah Subordinate Court).

The Kuala Lumpur High Court, meanwhile, dismisses a habeas corpus petition for the release of Anwar Ibrahim.