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Anwar Ibrahim

Long and Bitter Road

  

The prognosis is not good for Anwar Ibrahim. Two spineless puppet judges have imposed sentences of six years and nine years for imaginary crimes, to run consecutively.The first sentence, imposed by the monster judge Augustine Paul, unfairly commenced from the date of sentencing, despite Anwar having already served six months in remand prior to the conclusion of the corruption trial. Then Arifin Jaka, jerking to his master’s strings, vomitted out a rubbishy judgement declaring that sodomy was proven against the accused, against the face of all evidence. The morally sick judge slapped the accused with a savage nine-year sentence, notwithstanding the fact that sodomy in Malaysia has never been punished by more than two years’ jail. Anwar Ibrahim rightly used his mitigation plea not to beg for mercy, but to launch an attack against Mahathir and his whorehouse judiciary.

 
 

AnwarIbrahim

It was poignant to read reports of Anwar’s youngest child asking: “Is nine years a long time?” Her mother, Wan Azizah, who broke down in tears after the sentencing, had not the heart to tell her that the nine years would start only after the end of the six years, that is to say, the child would have to grow quite a bit before she could see her father as a free man again.

With the normal one-third remission of sentence for good behaviour, Anwar could be out by 2009; if not then his suffering will extend to 2014. In the worst case scenario, Anwar will be unable to compete for political office until 2019 — given the five-year ban after release under Malaysian law — at which time, the man will be 72 years of age, too old by any standard, although still a shade younger than the decrepit but still power-mad Mahathir of today.

 

There is not the least hope of appeals to the next two tiers of the whorehouse judiciary succeeding in either acquitting Anwar or even reducing the Mahathir-authored sentences. Everyone knows that, but it’s still worth making the point. It’s all part of the same corrupt system, and the only purpose of such appeals will be to show up just how perverted the entire judiciary is from top to bottom. For what purpose has chief justice Eusoff Chin’s term been extended a further six months if not to wear Mahathir’s dirty linen? This is despite that fact that there is enough well publicised, documentary proof of Eusoff Chin’s moral turpitude to send him packing. But Mahathir loves corrupt men so that he can lead them by the nose. Even if Eusoff “Filthy” Chin were to retire before Anwar’s appeals come up, Mahathir will not be so careless as to allow a good man to sit atop the judicial dunghill. Yes, Mahthir has had the Constitution changed so that the head of the judiciary is now appointed by the King on the advice of the Executive, and it is the chief justice who choses which judges sit on which cases. There are certainly no lack of corrupt judges to pick from.

 

Foreign criticism, while irksome to Mahathir, will not move him one inch. He is the sort to spit fire in reply, trading venomous insults for the legitimate concerns of others. Even if foreign investors were to shun Malaysia from now on because of its bogus judiciary, do you suppose that Mahathir cares one bit about your economic well-being? If so, he wouldn't be raving about foreign neo-colonists all the time. He is like Sadaam Hussein, who would rather see his people destroyed rather than yield to the West.

Neither can one expect the King to pardon Anwar. The powerless monarch can only do so on the advice of the prime minister, and this will be hard to come by. Mahathir fixed the Rulers in the early nineties, stripping them of whatever little reserve powers they still possessed then. They may be king and sultans, but Mahathir is Emperor above them all.

 

Also, don't expect this louse-ridden Emperor to undergo a change of heart, extending the hand of reconciliation to his vanquished rival. First of all, he hasn't got a heart, and secondly, he's told too many lies about saving the nation from a moral degenerate to be able to turn around gracefully. Likewise, the equally obdurate Anwar has already burnt his boats in his many vocal condemnations of his one-time boss. And never will he go down on his knees just to get out of prison. "The Will of Man is stronger than iron," he once wrote from his prison cell just after his first trial.

It is clear that as long as the vindictive, hate-filled Mahathir holds on to power, Anwar will remain in prison. And it is reasonable to expect that the dictator will remain in power for the term of his natural life, despite declaring that this will be his last term. The swine may be 74, but he could well live another ten years; after all, dictators have long lives because of their iron wills and because they have already created their heaven on Earth.

Even if the Devil claims Mahathir soon, it would not necessarily mean that the gross miscarriage of justice against Anwar will be righted, unless Barisan Alternatif comes to power and that unfortunatly, is not on the cards. Despite opposition gains in the last elections, Barisan Nasional still carried 75% of parliamentary seats. They have the men, the media and the money to win election after election, stooping to the most unethical methods against Opposition, including would you believe it, waxed ballot papers more suited to a farce. But then, free elecions are a farce when the local news media are propaganda loud-mouths for Mahathir's regime.To deny BN its two-third majority will be an uphill battle in the next two elections, let alone seize the government. And whether the Anwar factor will still be an election issue in 2004 is debatable, whether Barisan Alternatif will hold together much longer is also open to question. We had the best chance of toppling Mahathir in the 1999 General Elections and we lost it.

 

And if UMNO were still to rule the roost, would Mahathir’s successor be so generous as to let a tiger out of his cage? The lessons of history are not encouraging. Just look at Abdullah Badawi who, when promoted by Mahathir to the deputy prime ministership, was widely regarded as a clean, Islamic person. Yet, he quickly sacrificed his principles and his religion to become Mahathir’s marionette, one acting and parroting his despicable master and one quite ready to stomach the worst abuse of the judiciary in Malaysian history. Badawi let Anwar out? He would, first of all, need a thunderbolt on the road to Damascus. Neither are the other two prime ministerial contenders — Najib Abdul Razak and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah — well known for their saintliness. If so, they would not be sheltering under Mahathir’s dark cloak. Given the ugliness of UMNO politics, it is possible that the normal one-third sentence remission for Anwar might even be denied him, let alone hopes of an early release. After all, a free Anwar would be a tremendous boon to the Opposition, even if the man himself cannot run for office.

 

So, what is the prospect for Anwar? His best hope would appear to rest in his hidden supporters within UMNO, and in a power struggle within the party after Mahathir’s demise. A contender for the crown might well be willing to accommodate the demands of the Anwar faction in exchange for support. Although many of his supporters have already been purged from the party, disgust at Mahathir’s cruel treatment of his ex-deputy could well breed new sympathy for Anwar. But no one can be sure just how much support Anwar still has within UMNO and how this will change over time. 

If life were a fairy tale, Anwar the Brave would break free and send the Evil Mahathir flying to kingdom come. But life is not a fairy tale and, taken together, Anwar’s chances of an early release are slim. Never have any of Mahathirs political opponents been so brutally victimised. But as he contemplates his fate in his prison cell, Anwar can be assured that his sacrifices will never be forgotten by the Malaysian people, even if his political life has been destroyed forever. He will sleep more easily than the beast-like Mahathir in his opulent Putrajaya Palace, who has nothing more to look forward to except the Hell after death, in company with his puppet judges.

 

 
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Anwar Ibrahim