Anwar Ibrahim is in the Malaysian Federal Court this week for what hopefully is the last chapter in a sordid affair that has done nothing but distract him from his reform agenda. We have been critical of Malaysia's judiciary in the past and hope that at this moment in time, the five judges who are tasked with reviewing the appeal of Ibrahim's March conviction on charges of sodomy, will adhere strictly to the rule of law and not be swayed by external political influences.
Malaysia's image as an example or a model of a Muslim majority country that is on a democratic path, economically vibrant, adheres to the rule of law, and a model to the world on how to exist as a pluralistic society is under tremendous strain today. Ibrahim's trial is just one example of how dissident voices calling for reform of institutions in Malaysia are being persecuted. In just the last two months, nearly two dozen activists have been charged under Malaysia's archaic Sedition Act, including Ibrahim.
Ultra right wing groups have targeted minority communities threatening to burn bibles and tell the "immigrant" Chinese and Indian population of Malaysia to go home.
Academic freedom is also under attack. Two highly regarded professors were charged with sedition and Ibrahim's lecture scheduled to take place at the University of Malaya on Monday night was systemically blocked. University staff, dismissed early in the day, and the front gates of the university were put on lockdown. A few thousand brave students defied the ban and were able to hear Ibrahim speak.
Malaysian authorities, as Human Rights Watch Asia director, Phil Robertson, has stated, "risk making a travesty of the country's criminal justice system" unless they withdraw their case against Ibrahim.
- Al-jazeera, Harakahdaily, Malaysia Chronicle
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