I refer to the statement today by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin that Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s conviction ‘has nothing to do with the BN’. Muhyiddin’s statement displays breathtaking dishonesty and duplicity, grossly unbecoming of a deputy prime minister.
Anwar’s conviction has everything to do with the BN, and Muhyiddin is fully aware of this. It was a politically motivated show trial orchestrated and plotted by the BN government and its security and judicial apparatus.
If the BN has nothing to do with it, why did Prime Minister Najib Razak meet Saiful Bukhari at his residence just two days before the alleged sodomy incident? And why was the prosecutor Shafee Abdullah also present at the meeting between Saiful and Najib? This is clear evidence of a high level political conspiracy by Umno-BN. Worse than that, the Umno President’s personal lawyer Shafee Abdullah carried out the prosecution despite strong objections from Anwar’s defence team.
The Court of Appeal then railroaded the appeal hearing despite defence objections. Why did court of Appeal judge Aziah Ali insist on the appeal hearing being fixed on 6 and 7 March 2014, despite the fact that counsel Karpal Singh had other cases already fixed on those dates? Why the massive and sudden hurry?
In the week before the conviction, the Court of appeal and Federal court showed tremendous haste in dismissing succesive appeals and stay applications by Anwar’s defence team. This led to Anwar’s conviction and disqualification on the very eve of the nominations for the Kajang by-election.
Muhyiddin’s claim that the judiciary is independent is a bare and empty statement. The reputation of the judiciary has been at rock-bottom since Umno’s sacking of judges in the 1988 judicial crisis. And the public have lost what little regard they had for the judiciary since the conviction of Anwar on Friday.
Umno-BN must abandon their culture of jailing political opponents, but instead take part in civilised and rational political discourse. Otherwise, they must answer for their crimes in due course.
Issued by,
N SURENDRAN
VICE PRESIDENT, KEADILAN
MP PADANG SERAI