Anwar lawyer sentenced to jail for contempt

Anwar lawyer sentenced to jail for contempt

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A lawyer defending Anwar Ibrahim was sentenced to three months jail on Monday after refusing to apologize for allegations that prosecutors tried to fabricate evidence against the ousted deputy premier.

In a day of high drama at Malaysia's federal courthouse, presiding judge Justice Augustine Paul adjourned Anwar's trial after sentencing Zainur Zakaria for contempt of court.

The judge also issued a warrant for the arrest of another lawyer, Manjeet Singh Dillon, who works closely with Anwar's defense team.

Zainur later won a last-minute reprieve from the court of appeal, which granted an interim stay against the sentence pending a hearing on Friday, and was greeted by hundreds of chanting wellwishers as he emerged from the court.

"We want justice" shouted the group of lawyers and their families, as Zainur walked down the steps with his wife and children, visibly shaken but still smiling after being granted bail of 10,000 ringgit (US$2,600).

"We are shocked, completely shocked," one lawyer told AFP, adding that the three-month sentence was a "blow to every lawyer in this country."

Another lawyer hailed Zainur as "brave" for refusing the judge's repeated offer to drop the charge if he apologized to the court for his actions.

"He is our hero," said the lawyer, who asked not to be named. Efforts were meanwhile being made to call an emergency meeting of the Malaysian bar council to discuss Zainur's case.

Anwar, dismissed by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Sept. 2 and arrested 18 days later, has pleaded not guilty to the four corruption charges in the current trial as well as a fifth corruption charge and five of sodomy.

If convicted of corruption, Anwar faces a maximum penalty of 14 years. The sodomy charges each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years plus whipping.

Zainur had refused earlier Monday to apologize for allegations that prosecutors tried to fabricate evidence against Anwar, contained in a court application he filed on Saturday on behalf of the ousted deputy premier.

Anwar accused the two prosecutors of "going out of their way" to get his tennis partner Solaimalai Nallakaruppan to help the office of Attorney-General Mohtar Abdullah by falsely implicating him in sex offenses with various women.

Nalla, as he is known, was arrested earlier this year under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) and faces a mandatory death sentence if convicted in his separate trial on a charge of possessing 125 bullets.

"A man's life -- or for that matter his freedom -- is not a tool for a prosecution agency to use as a bargaining chip," Manjeet wrote in a letter to the attorney general attached to the affidavit.

Manjeet, one of Nalla's lawyers, described the alleged moves by the prosecution as "blackmail and extortion of the highest culpability."

Justice Paul accused Zainur of "trying to undermine the integrity of this trial" and ordered him to apologize to the court, the attorney general, deputy public prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail and his deputy Azahar Mohamed.

"I am unable to tender my apologies," the defense counsel replied.

The judge then ruled that Zainur would be charged with contempt of court for "filing an application with an affidavit which contains slanderous accusations."

"I find it extremely painful but the duty of the chair compels the way I act," Paul said. "This application is totally baseless."

Anwar turned to reporters during a court recess before the ruling and said: "Where is the justice? He is doing it under my name. Zainur is going to jail because of me."