Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was released on bail yesterday after pleading not guilty to sodomy charges ahead of a by-election tipped to return him to parliament this month.
“This is a slander, it is a malicious allegation and I am not guilty,” Anwar said from the dock after being accused of having sex with 23-year-old aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan on June 26.
Anwar, a former deputy premier who was jailed a decade ago on similar charges that were later overturned, has said the new allegations have been concocted by the government to prevent him from seizing power.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Despite fears he would not be given bail, Sessions Court Judge Komathy Suppiah set Anwar free on a 20,000 ringgit (US$6,100) bond until the next hearing on Sept. 10.
“A man is innocent until proven guilty. I don’t think there’s any likelihood that Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim will abscond,” she said, using his honorific title.
Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is illegal in Malaysia and carries a penalty of 20 years imprisonment.
The charges indicated the alleged sex act was consensual. Mohamad Saiful has reportedly said it took place at an upmarket Kuala Lumpur apartment.
Anwar welcomed the bail decision, which allows him to campaign for the Aug. 26 by-election, and said the prosecution had been ill-prepared.
“You can see how haphazard this has been. I am pleased with the decision and will proceed with my campaign,” he said.
His wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who left her parliamentary seat in northern Penang state to make way for Anwar, condemned the charges as “politically motivated” and said her husband was innocent.
“It’s a big relief that bail has been given. Anwar’s health is not too good,” she told reporters.
Security was tight outside the packed courtroom, which was guarded by about 200 police — mostly riot squad officers. About 400 pro-Anwar supporters massed peacefully outside.
In anticipation of protests, major roads leading into the capital Kuala Lumpur were locked down with roadblocks, causing major traffic jams.
The timing of the allegations, after Anwar announced he would oust the government with the help of defectors in the wake of elections that handed the opposition a third of parliamentary seats, has raised fears of a conspiracy.
“The Malaysian government appears to be manipulating the legal system to shore up support for its continued rule and undermine the opposition,” Human Rights Watch’s Asia director Brad Adams said in a statement.
“This case is really about preventing challenges to the government’s rule,” he said of the coalition, which has ruled since independence from Britain half a century ago.
Amnesty International also expressed grave concern over the charges and said they appeared to be an attempt to prevent the 60-year-old opposition leader from re-entering parliament.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Wednesday denied Anwar’s claims that the government had engineered the allegations.
“There’s no conspiracy,” he said, according to the New Straits Times daily. “How could I insist that he be charged? The police are not so stupid to simply charge if there is no evidence.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese