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Malaysia's Anwar won appeal against Sodomy, Freed Malaysia's highest court freed rebel politician Anwar Ibrahim from almost six years in jail on Thursday, overturning his conviction for sodomy in a shock ruling expected to win support for the new prime minister.
The former deputy prime minister, confined to a wheelchair because of a back complaint, used his first few minutes of freedom to urge recently installed prime minister Abdullah Badawi to drive harder on reform.
Wearing a broad smile over his neck brace, Anwar held an impromptu news conference inside the domed Moorish-style courthouse, as hundreds of supporters rallied outside, raising his old battle cry of "Reformasi" -- the reform movement he led before his 1999 jailing.
"Thank you, may God bless you," Anwar told the judges after the decision. His lawyers shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) after the court adjourned, closing a chapter in one of the nation's most extraordinary political sagas.
"Thank God it's over," Anwar added, turning to address reporters. "I have to give credit to the new prime minister for not interfering with the judiciary ... I appeal to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to make the necessary reforms."
Before his jailing, Anwar was a lightning rod for disaffected Malays, the country's majority ethnic grouping that dominates politics, and turned against the then prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, who was instrumental in both his rise and fall.
The decision could be a defining moment for the leadership of Abdullah, who succeeded Mahathir a year ago and won a landslide election victory in March on an agenda of tolerance and a pledge to clean up corruption -- an echo of Anwar's own agenda.
Analysts said the court decision would cement Abdullah's hold in the crucial rural Malay heartland and make it more difficult for Anwar or other opposition leaders to gain much traction in their criticisms of official corruption and cronyism.
Abdullah played down the occasion and shrugged when asked if Anwar posed a political threat but said "Those who want to rejoice or whatever they want to do must also understand the law." Abdullah was a cabinet minister when Anwar was sacked, but said he had no quarrel with him. "We have not been fighting."
Mahathir, who sacked Anwar exactly six years earlier, was unrepentant.
"I'm not going to lose any sleep," he told reporters after the ruling. "My conscience is clear. As far as I am concerned, I'm convinced that what I know is right. I still believe he's guilty."
U.S. AND AUSTRALIA WELCOME "JUSTICE"
Anwar, whom Mahathir had once anointed his political heir, is barred from politics until April 2008 due to an earlier conviction on corruption.
He served out that sentence last year and now wants to go to Germany for specialist spinal surgery for a back complaint he said was exacerbated by a beating he received on his first night in police custody.
The Kuala Lumpur stock market rose nearly two percent after news of the ruling, which analysts said would go down well with foreign investors who were shocked in 1999 when Anwar was jailed amid criticism of the Malaysian judiciary.
It was "gratifying to see that justice has now been served," the U.S. embassy said in a statement. Australian also welcomed the ruling.
Anwar turned 57 less than four weeks ago and his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, described his freedom as a belated birthday present. "It's like a healing process to our family and the nation because my husband is now free," she added.
She said he wanted to fly to Munich as early as possible "if we can get his passport and get a flight." Abdullah said Anwar would get his passport renewed. The three appeal judges delivered a majority judgment, with two finding that the evidence used to convict Anwar of sodomizing his family's former driver could not be relied upon. "We don't think it is safe to convict based on his evidence alone," Judge Abdul Hamid ruled, referring to the driver's testimony. "We are not prepared to uphold the conviction." After his release, Anwar spoke to reporters on the terrace of his Kuala Lumpur house and urged Abdullah to free all political detainees. "Hundreds of others are being persecuted maliciously as political tools. This needs to be corrected," he added. |
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