Anwar not worried about arrest

KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 - Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today he is not worried about the possibility of being arrested again over the allegation of sodomy against him although he hoped the police would not do it.

"Nobody wants to be arrested or detained. But with the Pusrawi hospital's (leaked medical) report, I wonder why they (the police) want to pursue this case," said the Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader.

The former deputy prime minister also said there was no basis for the accusation against him, and he questioned the authorities' strong interest in wanting to charge him.

"This country is not run by small segment of police leaders headed by (Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri) Musa Hassan who has a personal vendetta against me.

"Let me remind this government and the authorities that this country is not a police state. The decision must be based on facts and law, not based on Musa Hassan's personal wishes, and vendetta from 1998 to 2008," he said.

He added that his reform agenda and his intention to run for Parliament were still on track despite the possibility of being charged.

"I will continue; let's see if they decide to charge. Remember this is not 1998 when the system was tightly control. At least in 2008, there is some space."

Anwar said he was also not worried with the results of the Kuala Lumpur hospital report.

He added that if the medical examination and investigations were done professionally, like the one done by Pusrawi, he believed the authorities would come up with the same conclusion that he did not sodomise anybody.

When asked whether he had seen the KL hospital report, he said: "No."

Anwar was speaking to reporters after giving a statement to Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) on his complaint to the department over the accusation by his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan that he had sodomised him.

Anwar lodged the complaint with Jawi on July 9.

He spent about two hours to have his statement taken by the Islamic authority and he had informed Jawi officials about the leaked medical report.

"They (Jawi) certainly will refer to the doctor to take his statement," he claimed.

Jawi officials also asked to explain why he thought the accusation against him was baseless, to which he replied:

"(I was asked) what other evidence you can be adduced to substantiate (my claim) other than medical evidence and alibi, and I have done all these, which is somewhat similar to normal criminal cases conducted by the police."

He added that the Jawi investigators were more professional compared to the police.

"You can sense the manner questions are being raised and asked is more professional, wanting to know the facts, and not in an accusing tone," he said.

When asked whether he prefers the Syariah court or the civil court, the founder of the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) said, "I wouldn't have any preference, given a choice, every allegation must be substantiated, it should not be politically motivated."

He also presented to the Jawi investigators the view of an usul fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) expert Sheikh Taha Jabir al-Ulwani, a professor at the Al-Azhar University, who had said that qazaf (false accusation) could be applied to sodomy and adultery cases.

Adib Zalkapli
The Malaysian Insider