'Serious concerns' over Malaysian politician's arrest: US

Agence France-Presse - 7/17/2008 12:11 AM GMT

The United States said Wednesday that the arrest of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim over sodomy allegations sodomy has raised "serious concerns."

"We believe the detention today of prominent Malaysian opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim raises serious questions and concerns," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.

"We urge Malaysian authorities to resolve this matter in a manner that builds confidence in the impartial rule of law in Malaysia," he said.

Anwar underwent a long interrogation at the Malaysian police headquarters Wednesday and was then taken to hospital for a medical examination and would be held overnight at an undisclosed location, his lawyers said.

Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said she feared for his safety, after the events of a decade ago when he was sacked as deputy premier, beaten up by the police chief, and jailed for six years on sodomy and corruption charges.

Anwar has dismissed the latest accusations as a conspiracy to prevent him from rising into power.

The charges threaten to derail his political comeback and his plans to oust the government with the help of defecting lawmakers after landmark March elections that handed the opposition unprecedented gains.

Two US rights groups also expressed concerns about the arrest and hoped the investigation into the sodomy claims was not used as a political tool to silence him.

The arrest "is of great concern to us and the international community," said Lorne Craner, president of the International Republican Institute, and Ken Wollack, president the National Democratic Institute.

They noted that the similar charge filed against him a decade ago was ultimately overturned by Malaysia's Supreme Court.

Craner and Wollack also questioned the timing of the current allegations amid Anwar's re-emergence on the national political scene since a ban on his involvement in politics expired in April 2008.

"We hope that the investigation into the allegation is not used as a political tool to silence an outspoken government critic," they said.

Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is illegal in predominantly Muslim Malaysia and punishable by 20 years imprisonment.

Japan says seeking information on Anwar

Agence France-Presse - 7/17/2008 3:58 AM GMT

Japan said Thursday it will seek information about the arrest of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim during an ASEAN meeting next week.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura is due to head next week to Singapore for meetings with his colleagues from the Association of Southeast Asian nations.

"Japan hopes to use the occasion to grasp the situation so as to decide how to react on the matter," chief government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura told reporters.

Anwar was freed on bail Thursday after being arrested on new accusations of sodomy, which he dismissed as a conspiracy to thwart his plans to topple the government.

The US said Wednesday that Anwar's arrest raised "serious concerns".

Japan considers Southeast Asia a key area of influence and entered a free-trade agreement with Malaysia in July last year.

Malaysia's Anwar says victim of 'vendetta'

Agence France-Presse - 7/17/2008 7:48 AM GMT

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday he was the victim of a "vendetta", after being held overnight on sodomy accusations levelled by a young male aide.

Anwar, who was released on bail, said he was treated like a "major criminal" and needed medical treatment after a night in a bare cell at Kuala Lumpur police headquarters which aggravated a back injury.

"Dumped in a cell to sleep on a cold cement floor with nothing... that has exacerbated the pain," said Anwar, who was arrested Wednesday by a team of police commandos.

"I don't deserve this -- no Malaysian deserves this. Why treat me like a major criminal?" he told a press conference, adding that he was subjected to an examination which included the measuring of his genitals.

"They have seen all my private parts. Of course I refused to be photographed, it could be on YouTube very soon! You mean I can trust the system?"

Anwar rejected the allegations levelled by 23-year-old aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan as another conspiracy, following the events of 1998 when he was sacked as deputy premier and jailed on sodomy and corruption counts.

"It appears that the events of the last few days, the nature of my unwarranted arrest, my overnight incarceration which was actually absolutely unnecessary, were an act of personal vengeance against me," he said.

"They should not use this as a personal vendetta against me."

Anwar said he was being targeted because of allegations he has made against the attorney-general and chief of police over his treatment during his original trial.

He has lodged a police report accusing them of manipulating evidence in an investigation into the severe beating he received when he was in police custody at the time.

The 60-year-old opposition leader defended his decision not to give a DNA sample during Wednesday's examination, saying he had no faith in the system after fabricated DNA evidence was used against him in his trial a decade ago.

"My decision to refuse a DNA test is taken through advice of my lawyers and DNA experts," he said.

And he criticised the decision to arrest him, when he had agreed to face police interrogation at a meeting scheduled just an hour after he was picked up by police.

"I am disappointed with the way the police have handled this whole situation," he said.

Conspiracy fears in Malaysia as opposition targeted again

Agence France-Presse - 7/17/2008 8:32 AM GMT

The timing of sodomy allegations against Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim has raised suspicions of a conspiracy, coming shortly after he emerged as an unprecedented threat to the government's 50-year rule.

The 60-year-old opposition leader had only just mounted an astonishing political comeback after his downfall a decade ago when he was sacked as deputy premier and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges.

After wresting a third of parliamentary seats in March elections, his ambitions of seizing power with the help of government defectors have been stalled by the allegations he assaulted a 23-year-old male aide.

Despite agreeing to submit to police questioning, he was arrested Wednesday by commandos in balaclavas who swooped on his car near his home, and held overnight in dramatic scenes criticised as an over-reaction.

"The latest developments indicate we are moving towards a police state," said Param Cumaraswamy, an adviser to Anwar and a former UN special rapporteur on legal issues.

"It is no doubt a little difficult for a political party that has been in power for 50 years to have such a large opposition in parliament now. I think they are fearful of losing power," he said.

"Whatever is happening, it is very counterproductive to the government. It is certainly not going to put the government in a positive light."

The March elections have redrawn the political landscape by establishing an opposition with a real chance of unseating the mighty Barisan Nasional coalition, made up of parties that represent each of Malaysia's races.

It has threatened the very existence of its lead party, the United Malays National Organisation, which represents the rights of Muslims who dominate the population, in a country also home to ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.

Anwar has said he will cast aside race-based politics and, with the help of Barisan Nasional defectors, create a new administration free of the corruption and cronyism that has become rampant at all levels of society.

With so much at stake, the timing of the new accusations against Anwar is extraordinary.

But Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar on Thursday rejected the conspiracy allegations and said Malaysia was well aware its reputation was at stake.

"We are now under international pressure because of the various allegations, so we need to be careful in what we do," he said, dismissing Anwar's actions as a ploy to create sympathy at home and abroad.

"(Anwar) has created some negative perceptions. He has strong supporters in the international arena, he has conditioned the mind of the people that he is going to become prime minister and that we are going to stop him," he said.

Cynicism towards the government is running high and the Merdeka Centre research firm said its surveys found that just one in 10 Malaysians believe the allegations against Anwar.

Whatever the rights and wrongs, many citizens have lost their faith in the judiciary and police which the Barisan Nasional has been accused of using for its own ends during the long years in power since independence from Britain.

"There is a significant amount of public scepticism over the allegations towards Anwar, and also whether or not the case is genuine or if it's politically motivated," said Merdeka Centre pollster Ibrahim Suffian.

However, he said that the mass protests which greeted Anwar's arrest a decade ago are unlikely to be repeated since the elections gave the opposition a more prominent stage to air its views.

"The Malaysian public has matured a lot since 1998," he said. They may not come out on the streets but they may certain use their vote differently."