Sodomy II: Govt pulls strings, court dances...

A human rights group accuses the government of pulling the strings behind Anwar Ibrahim's Sodomy II prima facie ruling.

The High Court’s prima facie case against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is a sign of the government meddling with the judiciary, alleged a human rights group.

Suaram coordinator Hasbeemasputra Abu Bakar accused the judiciary of bowing to government leaders through their attacks on Anwar.

“The courts have become mere puppets to the government of the day, succumbing to political pressures and making biased political decisions instead of legal decisions based on justice and fair play,” he said in a statement.

Hasbeemasputra said this was reflected in trial judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah’s actions, who ordered Anwar to enter his defence in the Sodomy II case on Monday.

The Suaram coordinator also slammed Zabidin for “prejudging” the case through his comments regarding Anwar’s former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

“It is laughable that the trial judge goes out of his way to say that Saiful is a ‘credible and truthful witness’ when the said witness has given contradictory statements and was even romantically involved with one of the prosecutors in the case,” he said.

Inconsistencies throughout

Anwar, was charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code with sodomising Saiful, at the Desa Damansara condominium here on June 26, 2008. If found guilty, the opposition leader could face a jail term of not less than five years and a maximum of 20 years.

Previously, Anwar had said that he was not surprised by Zabidin’s ruling, and that the latter had already “made up his mind.”

Hasbeemasputra agreed with this sentiment, and attacked the trial judge for inconsistencies throughout the case. He said that Zabidin had initially rejected the DNA samples obtained from the lock-up where Anwar was detained, only to accept it later on.

The defence’s cross-examination of the doctors who inspected Saiful was also a cause of concern for Suaram.

“(The defence was) unable to refer to notes that the doctors made during the medical examination of Saiful, since access to the notes will also have to be granted to the defence,” he said.

Hasbeemasputra said that the contradictions in the doctors’ testimonies and the denied access of evidence to Anwar’s defence team also hampered the latter’s due process.

“Suaram feels that the judge, in establishing that there is prima facie, has not taken into account these factors,” he said.

The High Court has fixed June 6 to 30 to hear Anwar’s defence.

source: FMT

PERBICARAAN DSAI – LIWAT 2 - Khalid Abdul Samad

Sememangnya telahpun dijangka, keputusan mahkamah akan menyebelahi pihak Saiful. Ini adalah kerana kekuatan UMNO terletak di ‘tubuh’ Saiful. Sekiranya kesnya ditolak, maka akan terbukti kezaliman UMNO terhadap DSAI selama ini. Dan dengan itu akan terdedah segala pembohongan mereka.

Ini adalah seperti yang didakwa Dato’ Mohd Zin, bekas Ketua Bahagian Siasatan Jenayah PDRM yang mendakwa penipuan dan putar-belit dalam kes DSAI akan terpaksa diteruskan demi menutup penipuan pemerintah. Dalam Bahasa Inggeris dikatakan, “one lie leads to another”. Dalam erti kata yang lain, seseorang itu terpaksa terus menipu demi menutup penipuan asal yang dilakukannya.

Bagi saya, ini hanya menambahkan hujjah untuk kita menukar kerajaan, dari BN ke PR. Ini adalah supaya kongkongan ke atas masyarakat dan Negara ditiadakan dan semua boleh bergerak tanpa ugutan atau paksaan dari pihak berkuasa yang ingin menutup kesalahan yang telah mereka lakukan. Negara dirosakkan demi menutup kesalahan mereka, supaya mereka boleh terus berkuasa.

Proses kerosakan ini berterusan sejak 1998, sehingga segala institusi keadilan hilang kredibiliti dan kerosakan ini akan diteruskan sehingga punca kerosakan itu diketepikan dan ditiadakan. Iaitu mereka yang berkuasa diganti dan kesalahan mereka didedahkan dan dengan itu penipuan tidak lagi perlu diteruskan.

Saya menjangkakan mereka akan mengulangi skrip yang lama dan memenjarakan DSAI walaupun jelas beliau tidak bersalah dalam kes ini. Mereka tiada pilihan. Pilihan lain bererti mereka akan hilang kuasa dan segala-galanya akan terdedah. Akan turut hilang harta mereka dan kedudukan mereka.

Rakyat perlu menyedari, tiada yang mampu menghalang kezaliman ini selain rakyat itu sendiri. Jangan bersekongkol dengan kezaliman, jangan bersubahat. Bersama kita menolak politik fitnah dan adu-domba, tolak BN.

cheers.