Bernama.com
Malaysian National News Agency
General
September 02, 2004 16:17 PM
PUTRAJAYA, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was freed Thursday after nearly six years in jail when the Federal Court upheld his appeal against conviction for sodomy.
Federal Court judges Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Datin Paduka Rahmah Hussain and Tengku Datuk Baharuddin Shah Tengku Mahmud decided with a 2-1 majority to overturn Anwar's conviction and nine-year jail sentence imposed on Aug 2, 2000.
Anwar, 57, was sentenced on April 14, 1999 to six years' jail on four counts of corruption relating to abuse of power by interfering in police investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct.
Anwar's release from prison Thursday comes exactly six years after he was sacked from the Cabinet.
The court also overturned the conviction and six-year jail sentence on Anwar's adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja.
They were found guilty of sodomising Anwar's family driver, Azizan Abu Bakar, at Sukma's Tivoli Villa apartment in affluent Bangsar here between January and March 1993.
Anwar thanked the judges for quashing his conviction and sentence, saying: "May God Bless You."
Outside the courthouse, he told reporters: "Thank God that it is over. But I remain committed with my struggle for justice.
"I also give credit to the Prime Minister."
Wearing a neck brace, Anwar arrived at the courthouse in a wheelchair. He was accompanied from Hospital Kuala Lumpur, where he was being treated, by police cars and motorcycle outriders.
The vehicle which brought Anwar headed straight for the underground carpark behind the courthouse but waiting journalists and photographers were unable to follow as the entrance was then locked.
Gathered outside the courthouse were about 400 of Anwar's supporters including from Parti Keadilan and PAS, some who came as early as 7am.
Among those spotted there were Keadilan Vice President Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, PAS Secretary General Nasaruddin Mat Isa and the DAP Member of Parliament for Seputeh Teresa Kok Suh Sim.
In an 88-page judgment, Justice Abdul Hamid said the prosecution had failed to prove the case against Anwar and Sukma beyond reasonable doubt as required by the law on admissible evidence and in accordance with established principles of law.
Even if the court were to find evidence to confirm Anwar and Sukma were involved in homosexual activities and were more inclined to believe that the alleged incident did happen, the court might only convict them if the prosecution had successfully proved the alleged offences beyond reasonable doubt, he added.
He said that the issue to be determined by the court was whether, at the end of the prosecution's case, it had proven beyond reasonable doubt that Anwar and Sukma had sodomised Azizan at the Tivoli Villa one night between January and March 1993, and in Sukma's case, whether he abetted the offence committed by Anwar.
Justice Abdul Hamid said the essential part of the offence had not been proven by the prosecution as Azizan, being the only source for the date of the offence, showed inconsistency and contradiction when giving evidence and was, therefore, not a reliable source.
He said Azizan's evidence on the date of the incident was doubtful as he had given three different dates in three different years, the first two covering a period of one month each and the last covering a period of three months.
In the charge, dated Oct 5, 1998, against Anwar regarding Tivoli Villa, the date of the commission of the offence given by Azizan was May 1994.
When Sukma was charged on April 23, 1999, the date of the offence was given as May 1992 and the charge against Anwar was amended from May 1994 to May 1992.
On June 7, 1999, the charges were again amended from May 1992 to "between the months of January and March 1993".
Justice Abdul Hamid said Sukma's confession was inadmissible as it appeared not to have been made voluntarily. Even if admissible, it would not support the date of the commission of the offences alleged, he added.
The court ruled that it was incumbent on the trial judge to hold a confession inadmissible if there appeared to be suspicious circumstances surrounding the making or recording of the confession.
Justice Abdul Hamid said that there seemed to be so many unusual things that happened regarding Sukma's arrest and confession, before and after the confession was made.
The confession came after 10 days of intensive interrogation and 12 days of detention (up to the time he made the statement to a magistrate) when for all intents and purposes he was arrested as a witness but interrogated as an offender and ended up as an accused, twice.
Indeed, he was charged two days later for allowing Anwar to sodomise him, the record of which was introduced as evidence in his trial.
Justice Abdul Hamid also found Azizan to be an accomplice. Therefore, corroborative evidence of a convincing, cogent and irresistible character was required, he said.
By Azizan's own evidence, he was sodomised 10 to 15 times at various places, including in Anwar's house, over a number of years. He never lodged any report, never complained about it and he did not leave the job immediately after he was sodomised the first time.
Justice Abdul Hamid said while the testimonies of Dr Mohamed Fadzil Man who examined Sukma on Nov 10, 1994 and former Inspector-General of Police Tun Haniff Omar and Anwar's conduct confirmed both their involvement in homosexual activities, such evidence did not corroborate Azizan's story that he was sodomised by them at the place, time and date specified in the charge.
In the absence of any corroborative evidence it was unsafe to convict them on the evidence of an accomplice alone unless his evidence was unusually convincing or for some reason was of special weight which the court found it was not, he added.
He stressed that the prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt before the defence might be called.
He said the High Court had misdirected itself in calling them to enter their defence. Instead, they should have been acquitted at the end of the prosecution case.
In her dissenting judgement, Justice Rahmah Hussain said that even though there were discrepancies in Azizan's testimony relating to the date of the offence, that did not straightaway make Azizan an unreliable witness and the whole story of his evidence unacceptable.
The discrepancies were not fatal to the prosecution's case since, in sexual offences, the date was not a vital ingredient of the charge.
As to the issue of voluntariness of Sukma's confession, she found no good reason to disagree with the concurrent finding of the High Court judge and the Court of Appeal. She agreed that details in the confession rendered an inevitable conclusion that it must be given voluntarily.
She also agreed with the finding of fact by the High Court judge that Azizan was not an accomplice.
There was nothing to suggest that Azizan "concurred fully in the criminal designs of another for a certain time, until getting alarmed or for some other cause, turn against his former associate and gave information against him."
She said Azizan was no more an accomplice than a rape victim and was ashamed and afraid to lodge a police report against both of them.
"Therefore, since Azizan was not an accomplice, no corroborative evidence was required before the court could make a finding that Azizan was credible," she said.
-- BERNAMA
Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim set free
Malaysian former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been set free from jail after the country's highest court overturned his sodomy conviction
The decision came six years to the day after his mentor-turned-rival, former leader Mahathir Mohammed, sacked him following a row over the economy.
Mr Anwar has always argued that charges against him were politically motivated.
He told the BBC he would now travel to Germany for treatment for back problems he says resulted from a police beating.
As news of his release filtered out of the court, a roar went up from supporters outside.
ANWAR'S LEGAL BATTLE
Sept 1998 - Sacked and arrested
April 1999 - Jailed for six years for corruption relating to alleged sodomy
July 2000 - Sentenced to further nine years for sodomy - alleged to have had sex with five men
July 2002 - Loses appeal against corruption conviction
Sept 2004 - Wins appeal against sodomy conviction
Mr Anwar, looking frail, sat impassive in a wheelchair in the dock, but when faced with his jubilant supporters, who held him aloft on their shoulders, he was overcome with emotion.
"Thank God, after six years I am now free," he told the BBC.
His original trials had been widely condemned as flawed and Malaysia's federal court accepted that his sodomy conviction was unsafe.
The court was reviewing an earlier rejection of Mr Anwar's appeal - but decided to quash the original conviction by a vote of 2-1.
"We allow the sentence and conviction to be set aside. We find the High Court misdirected itself. He should have been acquitted," said Judge Abdul Hamid Mohamad, head of a three-judge panel.
'Unreliable witness'
In reviewing the evidence, the court decided the prosecution's key witness was unreliable and in effect an accomplice.
Azizan Abubakar alleged he had been sodomised by Mr Anwar in May 1994.
The date was later amended to May 1992, but when it emerged that the condominium where the alleged act supposedly took place did not then exist, the charge was amended a second time.
The court also concluded that Mr Anwar's co-accused did not appear to have confessed voluntarily, and expressed concern that the police had been heavy-handed.
The judges therefore concluded that Mr Anwar should have been acquitted without having to enter a defence as the prosecution had not managed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Mr Anwar was sacked from his post as deputy in 1998 following a rift with Dr Mahathir over how to run the country's economy.
Mr Anwar responded by leading a massive anti-government protest. That evening police broke down his door and arrested him.
In 1999 he was jailed for six years for corruption, and in 2000 he received a further nine years for sodomy - to be served concurrently with his corruption sentence.
Mr Anwar had already failed to reverse the first of those convictions and finished serving his sentence for corruption last year.
Thursday's appeal to Malaysia's highest court over the second sentence was the last legal opening for the former minister.
The BBC correspondent in Kuala Lumpur, Jonathan Kent, says Mr Anwar's continued imprisonment had posed problems for the government of current Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who succeeded Dr Mahathir in November.
"You've got to recognise the fact that his predecessor wouldn't have made this judgment possible," Mr Anwar told reporters on Thursday.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/3619790.stm
Published: 2004/09/02 07:55:05 GMT
© BBC MMIV
Malaysia's Anwar freed from jail after shock appeal victory
Thu Sep 2, 5:36 AM ET
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AFP) - Malaysia was rocked by a political shockwave as former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was unexpectedly freed from nearly six years in jail after winning a last-chance appeal against a sodomy conviction.
AFP Photo
"I'm committed to the struggle with the opposition parties that are committed to reform. I'm starting it right away," Anwar told reporters.
He said, however, he believed he had Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to thank for the fact that the court had overturned his conviction and nine-year sentence -- a move which took most Malaysians and Anwar himself by surprise.
"I must thank Badawi for the decision," he said, adding: "Of course you have to remember his predecessor would not have made this judgement."
This was a reference to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who sacked Anwar on September 2, 1998, sparking street protests by thousands of his supporters.
Anwar was jailed shortly afterwards on corruption and sodomy charges, which he says were trumped up to prevent him mounting a political challenge to Mahathir. The trial was heavily criticised by human rights groups.
He had completed the corruption sentence and started serving time for allegedly sodomising an official driver before Thursday's victory.
Outside the court supporters held banners reading "Welcome back", "Long live Anwar" and "Arrest Mahathir". Anwar said, however, he had no malice against Mahathir, who retired in October last year after 22 years in power.
The man who was once seen as Mahathir's heir apparent appeared in court with medical braces on his neck and back after ignoring the advice of doctors who declared him unfit to attend the hearing. He left the court in a wheelchair.
He was admitted to hospital in July after suffering complications from a damaged spinal disc which he blamed on a police beating after his arrest.
Anwar said he would leave soon for surgery in Germany. A spokesman said the Saudi Arabian government had offered the use of a private jet to fly him to Munich and he would most probably leave Friday.
Anwar sat calmly during the one-and-a-half-hour court judgement, but smiled widely afterwards as he spoke to reporters and took congratulatory phone calls, saying: "It's good to be free."
Anwar called on Abdullah to bring to court or free all suspects held under the feared Internal Security Act, which allows detention without trial, including more than 90 alleged Islamic militants suspected of links to terrorist groups.
Anwar's Islamic links -- he founded the Muslim Youth Movement in 1971 -- and charismatic style gave him a strong following among Malaysia's Muslim majority while he was deputy prime minister.
At the same time his smart suits and free-market credentials helped his image in the foreign press and in international financial circles. In 1998 Newsweek magazine described him as "Asian of the Year."
But his support appeared to have faded over the years he spent in prison, and the National Justice Party (Keadilan) formed to press his cause was almost wiped out in elections in March, with only his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, winning a seat in parliament.
Anwar thanked his "great wife, great lady, great friend" and his supporters "all over the world".
The United States, which considered Anwar a political prisoner, issued a statement welcoming his release, as did Amnesty International.
Judge Abdul Hamid Mohamad, head of a three-judge bench which reached its decision by a two-to-one majority, said: "We allow the sentence and conviction to be set aside. We find the High Court misdirected itself. He should have been acquitted."
The Federal Court in 2002 rejected Anwar's appeal against the corruption charge, which accused him of abusing his official powers to cover up the allegations of sexual misconduct.
Malaysian High Court Voids Convictions of Ex-Deputy Premier
By JANE PERLEZ
Published: September 3, 2004
Reuters
Anwar Ibrahim, center, with supporters after his conviction on sodomy charges was overturned yesterday.
SINGAPORE, Sept. 2 - The high court in Malaysia overturned the sodomy conviction of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday and allowed him to go free after serving six years in prison.
The decision, which took many Malaysians and officials in surrounding countries by surprise, was the clearest sign yet of a new era since Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's election victory six months ago.
Mr Anwar, who attended the court session on Thursday in a wheelchair and a neck brace because of a serious back condition, was abruptly fired in 1998 by the Malaysian leader at the time, Mahathir Mohamad, over differences about how to handle the Asian financial crisis.
Soon afterward, Mr Anwar was arrested, tried and convicted on sodomy and corruption charges in what the deputy prime minister's supporters interpreted as personal revenge by Dr. Mahathir against the man who was his likely successor.
Mr Anwar, 57, emerged Thursday morning from the courtroom in Putrajaya, the Malaysian administrative capital, with a shout of "Reformasi!" the rallying cry of the demonstrators who supported him against Dr. Mahathir in 1998.
"Thank God it's over," Mr Anwar said. "I have to give credit to the new prime minister for not interfering with judiciary. I appeal to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to make the necessary reforms."
Surrounded by several hundred supporters, Mr Anwar then went to his father's home. He planned to apply for a new passport on Friday so he could go to Germany for surgery, according to his lawyer, Sankara Nair.
Mr Anwar's health is "very bad," because of a back condition that has put his "spine in jeopardy," Mr Nair said.
After losing two earlier appeals, Mr Anwar's legal team argued the appeal before the federal high court in April, Mr Nair said. "This was the final appeal," he said.
A leading Malaysian newspaper columnist, Karim Raslan, said the ruling on Thursday represented the end of what had been a nightmare on the Malaysian political conscience. "A lot of people were deeply disturbed by the treatment of Anwar,'' Mr Raslan said. He added that Mr Abdullah had shown professionalism by allowing the court to make its decision without interference.
The decision, by a three-judge panel, was welcomed by the United States. "It was gratifying to see that justice has now been served," the United States Embassy said in a statement.
Mr Anwar began serving a nine-year sentence on sodomy charges in 2000. His six-year sentence on corruption charges ended last year after he was given one-year reduction for good behavior.
Mr Anwar's arrest in 1998 soured relations between the Clinton administration and Malaysia, especially after Vice President Al Gore rebuked Dr Mahathir and championed the cause of the former deputy prime minister and his supporters.
At a meeting of Pacific Rim leaders in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, Mr. Gore said Malaysia needed more reforms like those proposed by Mr Anwar, who at the time was on trial.
For that censure and for other reasons, Dr. Mahathir maintained a solid wall of criticism against the United States until his retirement last October after 22 years in office.
Mr Abdullah, who took over as prime minister last November and then won his own electoral mandate in March, patched up relations with a visit to Washington this summer. He told President Bush that he would be prepared to send a team of Malaysian medics to Iraq.
Soon after Mr Anwar was freed Thursday, Mr Abdullah said the court's ruling had been made purely on legal merits. "Those who want to rejoice or whatever they want to do must also understand the law," he said.
While few could challenge the prime minister's statement that the court ruling had not been influenced by politics, the sudden release of Mr Anwar buoyed the Malaysian stock market. Analysts said the release would reverberate well among foreign investors.
In their ruling, the appellate judges decided 2 to 1 that the evidence used to convict Mr Anwar of sodomy was unreliable. The prosecution's chief witness, Azizan Abu Bakar, a driver for Mr Anwar's wife, changed the dates on which he alleged that Mr Anwar had committed sexual acts with him.
"We don't think it is safe to convict based on his evidence alone," Judge Abdul Hamid said of the driver's testimony. "We are not prepared to uphold the conviction."
The question uppermost in many minds in Kuala Lumpur, the official capital, on Thursday was whether Mr Anwar, who is considered a canny politician, could still make a comeback in opposition to the governing party. His arrest and his sentencing set off demonstrations against the Mahathir government.
His lawyer, Mr Nair, said he expected that Mr Anwar would want to rest after his operation before deciding on his future.
Prime Minister Abdullah built on his election victory by encouraging an opening of the economy and calling on Malaysians to show the world that their country could show a moderate face of Islam.
Although he is viewed as a consensus politician, many supporters of the governing party remember that it was Mr Abdullah who, as Dr Mahathir's foreign minister, criticized Mr Gore for what he called interference in Malaysia's domestic affairs.
Whatever policy differences may have existed between Mr Abdullah and Mr Anwar then, they are likely to be much more muted now. Noordin Sopiee, chairman of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur, said it would probably be difficult for Mr Anwar to make a comeback.
"Politics in Malaysia is merciless,'' he said. "Once you're out of circulation you can't make a comeback.''
Dr Mahathir remained defiant.
"My conscience is clear," the former prime minister said after the court's announcement. "As far as I am concerned, I'm convinced that what I know is right. I still believe he is guilty."
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