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.