PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday said he would fight hard against the latest sodomy allegation which he once again said was nothing more than a repeat of the same political conspiracy launched against him in 1998.
He said he has a strong alibi and witnesses who will be able to prove his innocence against a sodomy allegation but declined to elaborate, saying he had been advised by his lawyers to refrain from making any statement relating to the case.
Compared to the first time when he was charged with sodomy in 1998, Anwar said this time he was well prepared with facts and documents to clear his name.
“In 1993, the police stole my diary and never returned it. We struggled to think of what happened years ago. This time, events are still fresh in my memory. There is the diary and witnesses,” he said at a media conference. “No way am I going to give them an easy route this time. I will fight them hard and effectively, because it is the second round of dirty conspiracy.”
To a question, Anwar said he believed the sodomy accusation was re-used 10 years later because “they think this is the best to cause anxiety and disgust among Muslims.”
He said his lawyers had written three letters to the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General indicating his willingness to co-operate in the investigation.
“They have not replied until today. Take my DNA, take my hair,” said Anwar.
He also claimed that a former chief judge and a Federal Court judge had apologised to him for the cases involving him in 1998.
Anwar alleged that the former chief judge had cried to him and said that “they were under orders”.
The Federal Court judge had passed him a message saying: “You understand la sir, please understand us, circumstances were such and nothing could be done”.
Anwar appealed to the two judges to reveal in public what they had told him in private.
He also told reporters that Saiful Bukhari Azlan was never his aide but was a volunteer who was brought in by one of his then assistants Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad to help in the campaigning of the Seri Setia state constituency in Selangor which Nik Nazmi contested and won.
Saiful came in as a volunteer and was never made a permanent staff or paid as a full-time worker.
Anwar also said he has obtained a statutory declaration (SD) under oath which implicated that Saiful was closely connected to Khairil Anas Yusof who is a special officer in the office of the Deputy Prime Minister. He did not say who made the SD.
He also claimed that the police report was lodged by Saiful to derail his plans to contest a by-election and to also stop Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs from crossing over to Pakatan Rakyat.
“Today would have been the day the four Barisan Nasional members of parliament (MPs) would be joining us,’’ said Anwar without naming them.
The Edge
03/07/08
PEOPLE'S POWER
Hi. I am non-Muslim. We are going to discuss Malaysia. In Malaysia it may be possible that most of the beneficiaries of public assistance are Malays. But most of the have-nots are also Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. I have no problems with this. We want a no Malaysian left behind Malaysia. Both Malays and non-Malays have to live in Malaysia. We should not take a tough stand. The art of compromising is just as important. So, read on.
ReplyDeleteEven a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. If I may add a right step, please read on.
There is a quest for equality by non-Malays on the one hand and there is a fear of losing their special status among Malays on the other hand. So we have to reach a happy medium.
Many decades ago, the Muslim Malays were mostly sarong-clad; and at that time, when any Muslim Malay broke ranks and wore long pants and shirt, he would be considered pro-Western and thus a traitor by the Muslim Malay community. If you used silver ware like forks and spoons to eat food, you risk being called a traitor too. Later on, even if you ate burgers and hot dogs, you risk being branded pro-Western and a traitor. Commercially available disposable menstrual pads are also a Western idea and I bet is used by both Western and Eastern females today. Today, Malaysia, the country of my birth, is on the verge of becoming a developed nation. Unfortunately, the Malays do not credit the non-Malays adequately for their contribution to Malaysia’s growth and development. I, personally, have helped to build a hydro-electric dam in Perak, which will out live me. It was in the early 1980’s. The dam will continue to give out electricity to many generations to come. The photographs I took of the dam building continue to be my pride and joy. Like all construction industry, some workers died. Yes, I have served Malaysia in my own way. I am almost inclined to call the dam, my dam. Yes, it is my dam. It’s my gift to Malaysia. Despite that, I never asked for first class citizenship status. I only asked for religious equality. I only asked for changing faith is an inviolable human right. Some Malays feel that since they gave citizenship to non-Malays, the non-Malays must be willing to accept second-class status. My position is that, I am willing to accept second or whatever class status provided we separate Malay from Islam. We must be allowed to espouse secularism and liberalism. We have to recognize secularism and liberalism as another faith. Islam has no right to have a special status in Malaysia. No religion has the right to use political power and enforcement. Religions no longer have a monopoly over truth and knowledge. Changing faith is an inviolable human right.
It is pretty obvious that we have to increase the bi-racial population of Malaysia in order to stabilize the nation. Increasing the bi-racial population has nothing to do with political power. However, the politicians can remove obstacles to increase the bi-racial population. The obstacle is the special status for Islam in Malaysia. Currently, if Muslims and non-Muslims want to marry, then both have to convert to Islam or leave the country. This is the obstacle. If Muslim Malaysians are allowed to leave Islam, then there may be more marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims. Changing faith is an inviolable human right. If we support changing faith is an inviolable human right, then we are supporting Bangsa Malaysia.
In addition there is another matter to deal with. We do have, in Malaysia, a Department of Religious Affairs, but it is exclusively for Islam. Islam has no right to have a special status in Malaysia. To counterbalance the Department of Islamic Affairs, we now need a Department of non-Muslim Affairs. The Islamic issues can be taken care of by the Department of Religious (Islamic) Affairs, while the Department of non-Muslim Affairs will take care of issues regarding non-Muslims. Then, both Muslims and non-Muslims can co-exist. You see, I never asked for first class status. I only asked for religious equality.
We may need a constitutional amendment to create two kinds of Malays: Muslim Malays and non-Muslim Malays.
As far as I know public assistance programs alone cannot address the problem of disparity between the Malays and non-Malays. The public assistance programs of pre-1970’s was not successful. So from 1970-1990 they had the New Economic Policy which is also not successful and therefore there is a desire to continue it beyond 1990. Now some people want to introduce the Malaysian Economic Agenda. I have my reservations after so many failures. Therefore I say, try bi-racial. Many bi-racials have gotten ahead. While the public assistance to the needy continues, let us hope that the number of bi-racials increase too. That is, we should have a two-pronged attack to solve this problem of social and economic disparity between the Malays and non-Malays: on the one hand we should continue public assistance for the needy, and on the other hand we should amend the constitution to create two kinds of Malays (Muslim Malays and non-Muslim Malays) so that the number of bi-racials would increase. Trust me when I tell you that many bi-racials have gotten ahead. If the economic and social disparity between Malays and non-Malays continues, then ethnic jokes will continue which is unhealthy. The solution is, try bi-racial.
Step by step the non-Malays should claim full citizenship rights. In the mean time, most of the public assistance should continue to be given to the have-nots, who are mostly the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. This is the art of compromise.
By the way, there are advantages for being bi-racial. Many bi-racials have gotten ahead. In fact, Dr.Mahathir is bi-racial. Apparently his birth name is Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty. Please do go to website http://www.malaysianindian1.blogspot.com/ and read a posting entitled Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty @ Mahathir bin Mohamed. There is another posting in the same website to read entitled The Indian-Muslim opportunists in Umno
Yes, there are advantages for being bi-racial, and some of them have gotten ahead.