Why Has Anwar Not Been Charged?

I have been reading material that suggests that the publicity on the police report against Anwar Ibrahim is having an impact, even within the Pakatan Rakyat. It would seem that some in PAS are concerned enough to have allowed for discussions with UMNO to have become, or be seen to have become, more nuanced. Karim Raslan suggests that Anwar Ibrahim’s refusal to swear on the Quran is making enough people skeptical

I am not sure how correct this is. My sense, and I have written this elsewhere, is that enough people see the current events as being a politically driven, opportunistic or otherwise, initiative aimed at weakening Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan Rakyat.

With all of this and more, the burning question for me is why is it that much drama later - from the highly publicized police report by the alleged victim to Anwar seeking refuge with the Turkish Ambassador to his medical examination – Anwar Ibrahim has as yet to be charged?
Considering the extent of the insistence by the Government as to there having been a basis for all that has happened, most importantly the taking into custody of Anwar Ibrahim, and the tremendous publicity given to almost every dimension of the entire sordid affair, there would be enough for the Public Prosecutor (the Attorney General) to have preferred charges already.

That is what I would have done if I was the person making the decisions (I can fantasize, small pleasures). I would have charged Anwar Ibrahim and asked for an early trial of the matter seeing as how Anwar Ibrahim, and everything that happens to him, is very much in the public interest. I would then have marshaled the evidence and presented it during the prosecution stage of the case. That would have served all interests, legal and political.

So, why hasn’t it been done? Could it be there that there is not enough to go to court on? Is the investigation aimed more at fishing than it is at forming a basis for a reasoned decision, one way or the other? Or could it be that the trial is already underway in the court of public opinion.

Judging by topical commentary, that seems to be the case. Everyone is going to town, it would seem, on Anwar Ibrahim. And, as much as Anwar Ibrahim may not draw the support of some, that is not fair. He is entitled to judged by way of a fair trial and not by way of a media frenzy.

As things stand, Anwar Ibrahim is innocent. He was acquitted of the earlier charge of sodomy. In law there is no question of factual guilt as opposed to legal guilt. His acquittal means that he was not guilty and the prosecution did not prove its case, no matter what some might say. As for the current allegations, they remain just that: allegations. Anwar Ibrahim has not even been charged, how can any one of us form the view that he did anything. The law applies equally to all.

Now can we get back to thinking about running the country ?

-Disquiet