via The Malaysian Insider:
Wall Street Journal says doubts Anwar can get fair trial
By Adib Zalkapli
November 10, 2010
PETALING JAYA, Nov 10 — The Wall Street Journal cast doubts today about whether Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim can get a fair trial in his prosecution for sodomy, just one week after a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Malaysia.
The international daily said in an editorial published today that while the United States can continue insisting on a fair trial, irregularities continue to surface during court proceedings.
“Hillary Clinton had a diplomatic answer when asked last week about Malaysia’s prosecution for sodomy of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim,” said the editorial.
“Let’s hope she used tougher language in her private meetings with Prime Minister Najib Razak,” it added.
Clinton had called for a fair trial for Anwar but was careful in her remarks so as not to offend the Malaysian government.
The Wall Street Journal, however, described the case as politically motivated, citing the meeting that took place between the accuser Saiful Bukhari Azlan and then Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak prior to Anwar’s arrest.
The daily also cited the medical reports, which found that Saiful was not sodomised.
“Mr. Anwar’s accuser is a twenty-something former aide named Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who claims he was forced to have sex multiple times with the then 60-year-old Mr. Anwar.
“Yet when Mr. Saiful presented himself at hospital two days after the alleged event, he showed no signs of tearing or bruising, according to several doctors who examined him at two separate hospitals,” said the newspaper.
The daily also raised the fact that Saiful had not denied the alleged affair with a member of the prosecution team, Farah Azlina Latif.
“Among other irregularities, Mr. Saiful was accused of — and didn’t deny — a romantic relationship with a member of the prosecution team, which ought to have led to the dismissal of the case but instead resulted only in the removal of the lawyer,” said the newspaper.
“Given what we’ve seen of this case so far — to say nothing of the one before it — that promise is hard to credit. Mrs. Clinton is right to insist on fairness and transparency, but it’s hard to expect either, given the evidence at hand,”
Anwar is charged with sodomising Saiful at Unit 11-5-1 of the Desa Damansara Condominium in Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
He has denied the charge, describing it as “evil, frivolous lies by those in power” when the charge was read out to him.
He is charged under section 377B of the Penal Code and can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction.
Anwar was charged with sodomy and corruption in 1998 after he was sacked from the Cabinet and was later convicted and jailed for both offences.
He was freed in September 2004 and later resurrected his political career by winning back his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in a by-election in 2008, which had been held in the interim by his wife.
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