More than 50 Australian MPs last week lodged a formal protest over the trial of the former deputy premier which began earlier this month, urging Malaysia to drop the case and saying it would hurt the country's image.
A few more countries have spoken up against an alleged political trial against the top opposition figure, Anwar Ibrahim. The latest to have spoken up is John Kerry, a senior US senator.
These statements were made amidst a growing criticism of a lack of transparency and fairness in the trial. A few injustices should be noted e.g. the moving of Anwar's trial from a lower court to high court, refusal of prosecution team to share list of witnesses and crucial information with the defence team and unfair media coverage on the opposition leader.
Earlier, the court of appeal has ruled against Anwar to dispose the charge claiming that two medical reports found no conclusive evidence of penetration on the complainant.
The fact that Anwar is an important political figure in the country, the judiciary needs to be even more vigilant in dispensing justice and to ensure that he gets a fair trial. Given that a number of us already have a problem with the application of law in this case, any attempt to deny Anwar an access to useful and crucial information to defend himself is tantamount to a political conspiracy against him.
This is something leaders such as Khairy Jamaluddin have to accept and learn. If the judiciary is credible and independent, it does not need the UMNO Youth or Perkasa to defend its image. The application of law and process of dispensing justice will help to redeem the judiciary and help to quash any ill intended criticism.
It does not need Khairy or some 300 demonstrators, led by the influential youth wing of the ruling party Umno, yelled slogans and carried banners calling on Australia to 'Mind your own business' during the peaceful rally which lasted less than an hour.
"If you want to ask for a fair trial, OK, but if you're asking us to drop our charges and insinuate conspiracy, then this is something that we have to address," said Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.
The point is who will the international community listen to; Khairy & UMNO Youth or John Kerry and the 50 MPs from Australia?
Khairy's action in leading the demonstration strengthens the case of a political trial. Worse, it shows that Khairy has wasted his ivy league education for not being able to respond intelligently and civilly to the memorandum.
ST
21/02/10
A few more countries have spoken up against an alleged political trial against the top opposition figure, Anwar Ibrahim. The latest to have spoken up is John Kerry, a senior US senator.
These statements were made amidst a growing criticism of a lack of transparency and fairness in the trial. A few injustices should be noted e.g. the moving of Anwar's trial from a lower court to high court, refusal of prosecution team to share list of witnesses and crucial information with the defence team and unfair media coverage on the opposition leader.
Earlier, the court of appeal has ruled against Anwar to dispose the charge claiming that two medical reports found no conclusive evidence of penetration on the complainant.
The fact that Anwar is an important political figure in the country, the judiciary needs to be even more vigilant in dispensing justice and to ensure that he gets a fair trial. Given that a number of us already have a problem with the application of law in this case, any attempt to deny Anwar an access to useful and crucial information to defend himself is tantamount to a political conspiracy against him.
This is something leaders such as Khairy Jamaluddin have to accept and learn. If the judiciary is credible and independent, it does not need the UMNO Youth or Perkasa to defend its image. The application of law and process of dispensing justice will help to redeem the judiciary and help to quash any ill intended criticism.
It does not need Khairy or some 300 demonstrators, led by the influential youth wing of the ruling party Umno, yelled slogans and carried banners calling on Australia to 'Mind your own business' during the peaceful rally which lasted less than an hour.
"If you want to ask for a fair trial, OK, but if you're asking us to drop our charges and insinuate conspiracy, then this is something that we have to address," said Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.
The point is who will the international community listen to; Khairy & UMNO Youth or John Kerry and the 50 MPs from Australia?
Khairy's action in leading the demonstration strengthens the case of a political trial. Worse, it shows that Khairy has wasted his ivy league education for not being able to respond intelligently and civilly to the memorandum.
ST
21/02/10
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