MALAYSIAN ANWAR CONVINCED HE WILL GO TO JAIL FOR SODOMY?

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is convinced he will go to jail for his sodomy conviction, probably for even longer than the five years he was given, as he said the judicial process is staked heavily against him.

The de facto PKR leader, who disclosed that foreign leaders like former US Vice-President Al Gore and Irish President Mary Robinson had advised him during his recent trip to London not to return to Malaysia and be jailed, said the refusal of the Federal Court registry yesterday to allow him an extension of time to file his petition of appeal against the conviction was just the latest legal hurdle he had to overcome.

The deadline for filing the petition is today (Thursday).

Decrying the refusal as an abuse of the judicial process, Anwar said it was another “clear testimony” that the courts were being used by Umno leaders to harass him.

“It is definitely harassment and an abuse of process,” he said.

“I'm just waiting. I don't know how much time I have.

“A month, two months before they send me to jail,” said Anwar, who was in Kuching to speak at the Reformasi 2.0 rally last night.

Anwar also spoke on the harassment he said he had to deal with when his appeal was heard in the Court of Appeal.

He said the courts advanced the hearing of his appeal by a month to “fit in” the dates of the Kajang by-election.

Anwar was to have been Pakatan Rakyat's candidate in the March 23 by-election in Selangor that was called after the incumbent, Lee Chin Cheh, unexpectedly resigned on January 27.

• However, the Court of Appeal's “swift” decision in overturning a High Court ruling and finding him guilty meant he was not eligible to contest.
• His wife Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail replaced him as the PR candidate.
• PKR legal bureau head Latheefa Koya yesterday said even with the deadline today, the Federal Court registry asked Anwar to file a formal application, which included a notice of motion, to ask for more time to file the grounds of appeal.
• Karpal Singh, who was Anwar’s lead counsel in the case, was to have filed the appeal. Karpal was killed in a tragic road accident along with his personal aide last Thursday.
• Latheefa described the court’s refusal as highly inconsiderate and showing a lack of sympathy and understanding over the tragic death of Karpal.
• Anwar, meanwhile, said the refusal meant his new lead counsel Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah did not have enough time “to go through the files and files of notes”.
• "It appears the Federal Court is bent on rushing the appeal and this can be seen in their failure to grant an extension of time," Latheefa added.

Anwar's latest brush with the court prompted him to warn that other key opposition leaders could suffer the same fate as he did.

He said with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak “manipulating the Attorney-General and judicial system”, opposition leaders like Batu MP Tian Chua, Pandan MP and PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli, Seremban MP Anthony Loke and PAS deputy secretary-general Dr Syed Azman Ahmad Nawawi were “all on the list of people to be charged and jailed.

Source: TMI