Clutching at straws: the signs of a dying man

Today, the chemists at the Chemistry Department and the doctors at the HKL are going to be subjected to immense pressure. They are going to be pressured into amending their reports to implicate Anwar in the allegation that he sodomised Saiful on 26 June 2008, the day after he met Rodwan in room 619 of the Concorde Hotel.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Kim Quek’s 3 July 2007 article called ‘Some seriously troubling questions in Malaysia’ says it all (read the article here ). Though the article is slightly over a year old, it is worthwhile re-reading it, not only to refresh our minds as to what happened in the early stages of the Altantuya murder trial, but also as a reminder as to what the Malaysian judicial system is like and what to expect when they invariably and eventually charge Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy, plus whatever else they are going to charge him with.

This is an excerpt of Kim Quek’s 3 July 2007 piece:

That this murder case has been subjected to serious political manipulation has been obvious from the very start when the police commenced their highly questionable investigation, right through to the present trial when the conduct of lawyers for both sides appear increasingly dubious. Instead of the prosecutor seeking the truth and the defence lawyer fighting for the accused, both seem preoccupied with an overriding mission – to prevent the whole truth from emerging. Their combined efforts to cover up the issue of the immigration record and the identity of Najib Razak in the picture are just two examples of such conduct.

The highly irregular nature of this case was also marked by frequent and mysterious changes of legal personnel, resulting in a complete changeover of the defence team, the prosecutors and the judge even before the hearings began. These weird phenomena were crowned by the shock appearance of a new team of prosecutors who were appointed only hours before the hearing was supposed to begin, thus necessitating an impromptu two-week postponement of the trial. None of these changes of legal personnel has been properly explained, except for the resignation of Abdul Razak’s first lawyer, Zulkifli Noordin. Zulikifli quit, he said, because of "serious interference by third parties".

Okay, that was last year. Let us see what happened ten years ago in 1998 when Anwar was first made to endure the agony of a sodomy trial. There are strong reasons to believe that what happened ten years ago will soon be repeated. The system has not changed. The players remain the same. Expect, therefore, the same strategy to apply. And I will bet my last Ringgit on the possibility that I will be 100% right. Anyone want to make some money by covering my bet? Or are you of the opinion that I will be right and that you will just be wasting your money by taking me on?

On the evening of 20 September 1998, Anwar was detained under the draconian Internal Security Act, a law that provides for detention without trial for an indefinite period of time. On 29 September 1998, Anwar was slapped with nine charges in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court. Another charge, the tenth, was preferred against Anwar in the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court. After the charges were read out to Anwar, he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial to all ten charges. It was at the Sessions Court that Anwar revealed to the world at large his black eye and the shocking news that he was beaten while under police custody. It later turned out, after deliberations by a Royal Commission of Inquiry, that his assailant was none other than the Inspector-General of Police himself.

The Public Prosecutor subsequently transferred Anwar’s case to the Kuala Lumpur High Court. When the trial kicked off on 2 November 1998 before High Court judge Augustine Paul, the Public Prosecutor decided to try Anwar on four charges first. Eventually, the balance six charges were dropped -- for obvious reasons; in that they had no case against Anwar and to continue with the charges would just make the government look more stupid than it already was.

Just for the record, Anwar’s case is labelled PUBLIC PROSECUTOR v DATO SERI ANWAR BIN IBRAHIM (Criminal Trial Nos. 45-48-98 & 45-47-98).

Then came the biggest bombshell in the trial -- the amendment of the four charges on 12 January 1999. The words ‘to deny sexual misconduct and sodomy committed by you for the purpose of protecting yourself from criminal action or proceedings’ were deleted from the charges. The effect to this was that the prosecution DID NOT have to prove that Anwar had committed the alleged sexual offences. They only needed to prove that allegations were made against him. That’s right. They no longer had to prove that Anwar, in fact, did commit sodomy. They only had to prove that an allegation had been made; that was all.

As this amendment came at the closing stages of the prosecution’s case, the defence profusely objected to it. It was clear that the amendments were meant to help strengthen the prosecution’s case because, thus far, they appeared to be losing their case against Anwar. Leading defence counsel Raja Aziz Addruse argued that the amendment was unjust and prejudicial, as it was done at such a late stage when Anwar’s name had already been tarnished. Furthermore, Raja Aziz Addruse argued, since the prosecution had been adducing evidence to show that Anwar had committed the alleged sexual misconduct and sodomy, the amendment was clearly prejudicial to Anwar.

Raja Aziz reiterated: "Throughout the life of the mattress in this court, it has been suggested this was the scene of sexual misconduct. It was brought to court even before PW12 (chemist Lim Kong Boon) gave his report. Now that the findings of the chemist had been challenged severely, and if I may submit, very effectively, the prosecution now says that what they intend to prove in the amended charges concerns only the allegations. Anwar’s name and that of Shamsidar Taharin were smeared throughout the trial and the prosecution now tells us that sodomy and sexual misconduct allegations are not a major part of the charges."

On 14 January 1999, Justice Augustine Paul created another perplexing precedent. He ordered that all evidence that had been adduced to prove or rebut the allegations of sexual misconduct and sodomy against Anwar be expunged. He further ordered the parties to focus on ‘corrupt practices’. Again, Raja Aziz objected and urged the court to express regret over the prosecution’s conduct in adducing prejudicial evidence "now expunged, which led to injustice". Raja Aziz added, "If an injustice has been done, it is the court’s duty to see that remedial measures are taken."

At the end of the prosecution’s case, the judge ruled that there was a case for the defence to answer. The trial proceeded to stage two, where defence witnesses would be called to give evidence.

Anwar, the first defence witness, spoke of the use of ‘the instruments of government’ to frame him. He accused the police and the Attorney-General’s office of being involved in the fabrication of evidence against him. He also spoke of the role of Ummi Hafilda Ali and Azizan Abu Bakar and how they were used by the ‘conspirators’ to make damaging allegations against him and how they were forced to give evidence in court against him.

The ‘star witness’ for the prosecution, Azizan, had earlier testified that Anwar had obtained from him a written admission to deny sexual misconduct and sodomy. The judge accepted this ‘evidence’. The judge totally ignored the fact that, while under cross-examination by Anwar’s counsel, Christopher Fernando, Azizan had admitted under oath THREE TIMES that he was never sodomised by Anwar. The judge, in fact, had earlier lost his temper and declared that Azizan was such an “unreliable witness who says one thing today and another thing tomorrow”.

Nevertheless, in his written judgement, the judge changed his mind and said that even though Azizan had been inconsistent and kept changing his testimony, this does not mean he is lying. The judge then went on to say that he finds Azizan’s testimony “as strong as the Rock of Gibraltar”.

Yes, that was what happened in 1998-1999. The most crucial element in obtaining a conviction against Anwar was the mattress and the testimony of the chemist, Lim Kong Boon. When it appeared like the mattress and the chemist’s testimony would not hold up in court, the judge ordered that the mattress be rejected as evidence and the chemist’s testimony be expunged from the court records.

All of a sudden this ‘evidence’ no longer existed. So they now only had Azizan’s testimony to work with.

Then, Azizan changed his testimony and declared under oath, THREE TIMES, that Anwar never sodomised him. The judge became angry and scolded Azizan. He even declared that Azizan was an unreliable witness who keeps changing his testimony. Then the judge ruled that just because Azizan keeps changing his testimony, this does not mean he is lying. The judge further ruled that Azizan’s inconsistent and ever-changing testimony ‘is as strong as the Rock of Gibraltar’.

A couple of days ago, the police wrapped up their investigation on the latest sodomy allegation against Anwar and handed their findings to the Solicitor-General. The Solicitor-General was shocked when he read the file. They have absolutely no case against Anwar. Furthermore, the fact that the accuser, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Bin Azlan, met Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) II Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof in room 619 of the Concorde Hotel in Kuala Lumpur one day before the alleged sodomy took place makes this highly suspicious indeed. And, on top of that, Anwar has an alibi for 26 June 2008; the day the alleged sodomy took place.

The police now need a ‘scientific approach’ to nail Anwar. In 1998, the evidence (mattress and chemist’s testimony) was thrown out of court and they had to rely entirely on the testimony of the prosecution’s ‘star witness’ -- in spite of him testifying THREE TIMES that Anwar never sodomised him. This time around, mere testimony is not enough. They need to ‘scientifically prove’ that Anwar sodomised Saiful.

But they face a major problem here. In 1998, the problem was the mattress and chemist Lim Kong Boon’s testimony, which eventually had to be both thrown out of court. This time around, in 2008, it is Saiful’s underwear. They are going to ‘prove’ that they found Anwar’s semen stains on Saiful’s underwear. But the problem is, Saiful’s girlfriend went and washed the underwear so how can they possibly find any semen stains on a freshly washed pair of underwear?

To convince the court (the judge who will most likely be an Umno Terengganu man) that they did find Anwar’s semen stains on this already washed underwear, they would need to not only plant fresh ‘semen stains’ but they also need the Chemistry Department to say that they did examine the underwear and they did find Anwar’s semen stains on it. And they also need the doctors at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) to say that they did do a second medical examination on Saiful (which they did not) and that they did find evidence that Anwar had sodomised him.

Anwar was supposed to have been arrested and charged for sodomy later today. But they can’t do it today after all. They might need to do that later this week. Today, they are going to work on the chemists at the Chemistry Department and the doctors at the HKL to get them to agree to change their reports. Based on the existing evidence they can’t even charge Anwar, let alone obtain a conviction. Only if the chemists and doctors change their reports would it be possible to charge Anwar.

Okay, they might be able to charge Anwar if the chemists and doctors agree to change their reports. But would this be sufficient to obtain a conviction? That does not matter at this stage. They can always get the judge to do an Augustine Paul-like stunt like what happened in 1998. The important thing is to first charge Anwar and then deny him bail so that he can be locked up for five to six years while the trial proceeds. That would dent his effort to win the Permatang Pauh by-election, which will certainly be held over the next 60 days or so. And it will also neutralise Anwar’s efforts to form the new federal government some time next month when not less than 30 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament cross over.

Today, the chemists at the Chemistry Department and the doctors at the HKL are going to be subjected to immense pressure. They are going to be pressured into amending their reports to implicate Anwar in the allegation that he sodomised Saiful on 26 June 2008, the day after he met Rodwan in room 619 of the Concorde Hotel. Thus far, the chemists and doctors have held firm and have refused to fabricate any evidence. They stand by their report that there is not only no evidence that Anwar has sodomised Saiful but there is also no evidence that Saiful has ever been sodomised.

Will the chemists and doctors continue to hold firm or will they succumb to the pressure and change their reports? We will of course know the answer to that later today. In the meantime, let us hope that these chemists and doctors say: enough is enough, no more fabrication of evidence! We know they are under immense pressure and it is not easy to defy the whims of those who walk in the corridors of power. But if they unite and stand together, the might of those who walk in the corridors of power can be challenged. They can hurt one man if all the others relent. But if all stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder, to defy kemunkaran, there is very little the government can do and their so-called case against Anwar will be ripped to shreds.

To those brave souls in the Chemistry Department and the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Malaysia Today salutes you. Come join the ranks of Malaysians who rejected all forms of kemunkaran on 8 March 2008. Stand united. Stand to be counted. Come stand with us as we move forward in an attempt to bring Malaysia, screaming and kicking, into the next era of equality, freedom and justice for all Malaysians regardless of gender, race, creed and religion.

May God give you the strength to do the right thing!