Anwar Ibrahim faces political wilderness

Anwar Ibrahim faces political wilderness

By K. Baranee Krishnaan

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Guilty or innocent, Malaysia's ousted finance minister Anwar Ibrahim faces prolonged political exile after his corruption trial ends this week.

Even if High Court Judge Augustine Paul acquits Anwar on Wednesday of the four corruption charges at hand, his lawyers say he will not walk free as a fifth corruption count and five sodomy charges still hang over his head.

The attorney-general has said he could press other sex-related charges. Anwar says he believes the government has also prepared treason counts.

Anwar will lodge an appeal with the Court of Appeal if, as he anticipates, he is convicted, his lawyers said.

Each of the four corruption charges carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail and a 20,000 ringgit (US$5,000) fine. The sacked minister said he expects to be jailed for two to four years.

"We expect him to get two to four years too," one of Anwar's nine trial lawyers, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. "But politically, he could be in exile longer."

Under the Elections Commissions Act, anyone fined at least 2,000 ringgit or imprisoned for one year or more is disqualified from running for legislative office for five years after the prison term ends.

Barred from parliament, Anwar would be kept on the political margins.

A jail sentence in Malaysia usually runs from the date of arrest, especially in cases such as Anwar's in which the defendant is denied bail and held in remand during trial. Anwar has been in detention for nearly seven months.

Prisoners are usually released after serving two-thirds of their sentence provided they demonstrate good behavior.

Taking into account his remand and assuming good behavior, Anwar would could walk free next January if given a two-year jail sentence and no other charges are pressed.

With a four-year term, he could be free in May 2001.

If convicted, Anwar's lawyers said they will immediately file an appeal. It was not clear whether they would ask for a stay of execution pending the outcome of the appeal as that move could deny him the possibility of having an eventual jail term reduced by the seven months he has spent in detention.

If jailed, Anwar could serve time at the Kajang prison 25 km (15 miles) south of the capital. He is currently being held at the Sungai Buloh remand prison, about the same distance north of Kuala Lumpur.

While an appeal was under consideration, Anwar could ask the High Court for bail on the remaining six charges, lawyers said.

The Court of Appeal normally takes six months to a year to hear an appeal.

"Since this is a case of public interest, we may have the hearing by middle or end of the year," Gurbachan Singh, one of Anwar's trial lawyers, told Reuters. "We are hoping for an early hearing."

Anwar's lawyers said they could argue on both case specifics and point of law before a three-member bench at the Court of Appeal.

If Anwar exhausted his chances at the Court of Appeal, his next avenue would be the Federal Court.

His last resort for clemency would be to ask for a pardon from the king, who normally acts on advice from the government.