Sodomy trial begins for Malaysian opposition leader

Updated July 8, 2009 10:23:37

Malaysia's opposition leader faces another gruelling challenge, as the High Court begins hearing a charge of sodomy against the former deputy prime minister.

Anwar Ibrahim has vehemently denied the charge, saying it was politically-motivated. Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia under a law dating back to British colonial days, but which has been rarely invoked.

Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: Ambiga Sreenevasan, member of Malaysia's Bar Council

SREENEVASAN: Well, he's charged under the provisions of the penal code for "committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature," I am giving the word in the code - and this could carry a punishment for up to 20 years and possibly even whipping.

LAM: But the sodomy law as I understand it is rarely used by Malaysian authorities and yet over a 10 year period, it's been invoked twice against the same person. What do you make of that?

SREENEVASAN: Well, it certainly looks as if these charges are reserved for Anwar Ibrahim. As you said, there has hardly been any other such prosecutions, may be two or three at the most that have been reported and mainly cases where it involved aggressional violence. Now what I make of it is that, and here I will not go into whether we should in this day and age even have such a law, by all accounts it should be abolished. But the fact that we have it and mainly use it against Anwar Ibrahim, I think speaks volumes for why it looks like a political move.

LAM: Indeed, there is some confusion as well, as to how the case came about, because I understand that the charges were laid against Anwar after the plaintiff lodged a police report. So, was he alleging rape and if not, why would he report himself to the police authorities?

SREENEVASAN: Yes, well from the press report on the report of the complaint, it would appear that he is claiming that he was sodomised by his employer, Anwar Ibrahim, without his consent. He does say that in the report. And he does also say the last time that it happened to him was on the 26th of June, 2008. So it appears that he is alleging a lack of consent.

LAM: And Ambiga, do you think it might be a worry for Anwar and his legal team that there is no jury hearing this case?

SREENEVASAN: It could be, but yes that could be one of the issues, the challenges that they have to face and I think one of the concerns is that here we go again after ten years with sodomy two. Sodomy one didn't say too much for our criminal justice system and so I think they do face many challenges.

LAM: Well, some people are saying that it is potentially embarrassing for Malaysia as a nation, especially when foreign investments are already dropping off?

SREENEVASAN: Well, I do think it is very embarrassing for the nation. As I've said, we've hardly recovered from sodomy one trial and now we have to face this. Malaysia certainly has so many positive things that we can offer internationally and I believe this will be damaging to our image abroad.

LAM: And indeed, I understand in a recent paper, you compared it to the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma?

SREENEVASAN: Yes, I did. Well, to me it seems to be there are too many similarities. Both are leaders of the Opposition. I think the question is if Anwar Ibrahim was not prime minister in waiting and leader of the Opposition, would he have been charged? I think the answer would be no. So there are many similarities and I feel that basically, they are both obviously political prosecutions and that's why I do the comparison with Aung San Suu Kyi.

LAM: What impact do you think this might have on the Opposition alliance, on the Pakatan Rakyat?

SREENEVASAN: I think they may well actually just united behind him. I think in fact a lot of people in Malaysia will unite behind Anwar Ibrahim on this.

LAM: Because the trial does have the potential to remove Anwar Ibrahim from the political arena for sometime?

SREENEVASAN: That's right, but I would imagine that any party or Coalition like the Pakatan, would be prepared for that. I think to me, politically speaking, I am not sure it's a wise move by the government, because Anwar facing injustices and in jail would be far more dangerous than an Anwar who is free. So I actually think this may unite the Pakatan and I don't think it's politically a very wise move.

LAM: Indeed, the trial hasn't even started and yet people are already talking about it being a political witch hunt. Is that your sense of what the public is thinking out there in the wider community?

SREENEVASAN: I believe so, I believe a lot of right-thinking people would feel this way. The trial is due to start this morning and I believe there's an application before the court for discovery of some vital evidence that hasn't been disclosed to Anwar's team. So we will have to see what happens with that application and how it moves along and I think one other thing, I think this is something that could damage our criminal justice system if we're not careful how it's handled.