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Case Study: ANWAR IBRAHIM IN MALAYSIA
- Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia,
has been sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison.
- Initially arrested for alleged corruption, he faced new
charges of sodomy whilst under arrest.
- The court procedures have been widely criticised abroad.
Analysis
The trial and conviction of Anwar Ibrahim has focused international
attention on the Malaysian justice system. Although the country's
government argues that "this was a fair trial in which
the judge took into consideration all the arguments laid out
by the prosecution and defence before coming to a verdict",
opponents have raised serious concerns.
The prosecution changed key dates during the
trial and Anwar's own lawyer Karpal Singh found himself charged
with sedition and contempt of court. Media reports - both inside
and outside the country - claimed that police interfered with
witnesses and that Anwar's co-accused was coerced.
Pictures of the accused politician with a black
eye and bruises appeared after his first night in police detention
and contributed to concern that he was not being treated fairly.
The former Deputy Prime Minister is serving
a total of fifteen years after being convicted for sodomy and
abuse of power. His supporters maintain he is a victim of a
political conspiracy designed to prevent him challenging the
rule of the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad after his dismissal
in 1998.
Detained initially under the Internal Security Act rather than
on straightforward criminal charges of corruption, the sodomy
charge was added later.
When the United States, Canada, Australia,
New Zealand and the European Union criticised the court procedures,
Malaysia accused these countries of violating the "international
recognition of judicial process", whereby no country should
interfere in the judicial process of another country.
Anwar is appealing.
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