Anwar's plea for release on bail rejected
Anwar's plea for release on bail rejected
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): A Malaysian court on Saturday rejected
a request by sacked finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, detained
since September on sex and corruption charges, to be released on
bail.
The Court of Appeal in the capital dismissed Anwar's appeal
against a lower court decision denying him bail.
"I'm very sad," Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told
reporters after he was whisked away to spend his first Idul Fitri
festival in prison. The Muslim holiday marks the conclusion of
the Ramadhan fasting month, which ends on Monday.
As the white police sedan with Anwar sped to the Sungai Buloh
prison 25 km (15 miles) north from Kuala Lumpur, dozens of his
supporters lined a street behind the capital's courthouse to wave
at the dark-windowed car and shout "Reformasi" (Reform).
The cry has been Anwar's battle slogan since he was sacked by
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in September and indicted on five
counts each of sodomy and corruption. He has denied the charges.
Anwar's trial is at the center of civil unrest in Malaysia.
His supporters had mounted unprecedented street protests against
Mahathir's 17-year rule after his arrest, but were beaten back by
tear gas and baton-wielding police.
Mahathir has said Anwar was morally unfit to succeed him as
prime minister. Anwar has said he was the victim of a plot by
Mahathir's associates to sideline him from power.
Since the start of Anwar's trial in November, his supporters
have grouped daily at a river bank beside the courthouse and a
mosque across from it to wave at him and his wife and shout
"Reformasi" as they emerge from court.
The Court of Appeal said it considered potential problems from
Anwar's supporters as one of the reasons to deny him bail.
"I'm compelled to make an observation that there are
tremendous noises caused by shouts, especially when the appellant
leaves court," said Judge Lamin Yunus, who headed a three-member
bench to hear Anwar's appeal.
"I consider such noises a breach of the peace.... To my mind,
this sort of situation must be treated as another factor," he
said, adding that releasing Anwar would require police to employ
more manpower at public expense.
Anwar's lawyers were surprised at Lamin's remarks since
prosecutors objecting to his bail had never raised this point.
They said the argument could work against Anwar when he again
seeks to secure bail. "It's an obstacle for us," Anwar's chief
counsel Raja Aziz Raja Addruse said.
Lamin's colleague N.H. Chan said if Anwar still wanted bail,
he had to return to High Court Judge Augustine Paul, the judge in
his criminal trial who has twice rejected his bail requests.
Chan said Augustine had not made a "final decision" on Anwar's
request and the Court of Appeal could not intervene. "The appeal
is, therefore, incompetent," he said.
Chan said the issue was up to Augustine's "judicial
conscience".
The Court of Appeal's ruling was the latest in a series of
legal setbacks for Anwar. Earlier this week, Augustine agreed to
a prosecution request to amend four corruption charges more than
two months into the trial.
Anwar's lawyers said the amendments lowered the burden of
proof that government prosecutors would have to meet to win
Anwar's conviction under the corruption statute, which provides
for a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail and a 20,000 ringgit
(US$5,000) fine for each count.