Malaysia’s Appeals Court rejected a motion yesterday by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to have a charge of sodomy against him dismissed.
The trial, which started earlier this month, has already seen Anwar’s 24-year-old male accuser say in court that the veteran politician sodomized him in 2008, a crime in majority Muslim Malaysia that carries a jail term of up to 20 years.
Anwar has sought to have the charge dismissed saying it was part of a political conspiracy against him, that there was no physical evidence to support the charge and that the charge was deliberately brought to disgrace him.
The trial will resume today when the judge will rule on a request from Anwar’s lawyers that he stand down from the case for allowing what Anwar terms prejudicial media coverage.
The case is being closely watched by international observers who fear a repeat of what they saw as a flawed conviction for sodomy for the former deputy prime minister in 2000. That earlier conviction was overturned on appeal although one for corruption remained.
“Do you expect for a miracle? You pray for miracles, you don’t expect them,” a relaxed looking Anwar told reporters as he entered the court.
The trial has drawn criticism from US politicians, but no officials have issued any statements.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
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