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Anwar’s fate in the hands of five judges
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YOURSAY ‘The audacity of those in power to use the judiciary is shameful.’

 

From K-Y jelly to carpet stains to 'conspiracy'

Ferdtan: One good surprise is that the former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram is appearing for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, replacing senior lawyer Sulaiman Abdullah.

 

Yes, we can forgive and forget what he did when he, then a judge in Court of Appeal, made the ‘mistake’ of enhancing the fine sentence of Lim Guan Eng who was supporting a young Malay girl allegedly raped by a former Umno chief minister and sent him to Kajang prison for three years.

 

By standing on this side of the divide in defending Anwar and fighting for justice against the cruel regime, he has a chance to ‘atone’ whatever sins committed in the past.

                                                                                   

Vijay47: Everybody seems to be cheering that in Gopal Sri Ram with his vast knowledge and experience, the five judges hearing this case have met their judicial match.

 

But since when has legal expertise been anything of value in matters of importance or even survival where Umno and its cohorts are concerned? What is there to assure us that those sitting on the bench are those guided by a sense of fairness, honesty and justice?

 

We have seen lately former senior judges revealing their true colours and making shocking statements along racial and religious lines and we can be certain that such were their sentiments and concern when they heard cases, when their guiding light was not the merits of the issue or how justice could best be served.

 

Are these five or at least a majority of them any different? Gopal Sri Ram with his learning of the many intricate facets of the law will for sure execute his best, but what chance does he have if faced with the emissaries of the devil?

 

We can only hope. And pray.

 

Pemerhati: Three of the five judges in the five-member Federal Court bench namely Arifin Zakaria, Md Raus Sharif and Ramli Ali were involved in the Perak constitutional crisis cases.

 

Law expert Abdul Aziz Bari said that in the Perak cases, the judges turned the law upside down to come up with ridiculous verdicts.

 

Former Court of Appeals judge NH Chan, when reviewing the judgments given by three appellate court judges regarding Anwar’s appeal to transfer the sodomy case to a different court, labelled the three judges as ‘bad judges’.

 

One of the ‘bad judges’, namely Abdul Hamid Embong, is now on the five-member bench. That means according to legal experts, four of the five judges on the bench have in the past given questionable verdicts against Pakatan Rakyat and Anwar.

 

The big question now is will they do a repeat performance. If they do find Anwar guilty, perhaps they can just answer one question:

 

Did PM Najib Razak lie when he said that Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan had gone to see him about getting a scholarship just before Anwar was accused of sodomising Saiful?   

 

Victor Johan: The first complaint by Saiful was made at the Pusrawi Hospital and Dr Mohd Osman Abdul Hamid who examined Saiful is the only bona fide witness. Why did the prosecution not call Dr Osman as a witness?

 

The subsequent complaint was made at Hospital Kuala Lumpur were made in dubious conditions where a questionable senior police officer happened to be there to witness workings on Saiful's anus to gather 'specimens of evidence'.

 

An important fact is that only the first complaint made at Pusrawi Hospital can be used for corroboration and not the subsequent tampered complaint at HKL. This is a point of law but the High Court and the Court of Appeal disgracefully overlook this. Why?

 

Negarawan: "It (Anwar’s appeal) was fixed on April 12 and 13 at the Court of Appeal, where it was fixed before Justice Aziah Ali during case management.

 

“The appeal was heard on March 6 and 7 and Karpal asked time to submit but it was turned down. It was a long trial but in this circumstance, it went through - the conviction is unsafe," said Gopal.

 

Umno pushed for a conviction timed before the Kajang by-election. The judiciary is on a tight leash.

 

Retnam: The appellate court hearing was brought forward to before the Kajang by-election nomination day. The court hearing was concluded within one day and extended to 7.30pm so that sentence could be passed immediately.

 

All this so that Anwar cannot contest the by-election. Malaysia ‘boleh’.

 

Blackmoon: Anwar had claimed to have witnesses to support his alibi but the defence team called none of them. And the defence’s alibi was later dropped.

 

Anwar’s list of 14 witnesses, which included his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Azizah, were all available. If any of these witnesses had been called, they would not have supported his case.

 

The (alibi) defence is not bona fide . The defence was raised dishonestly; when they were confronted evidence of videos, CCTVs (of Anwar being at the scene), they dropped the entire defence (of the alibi).

 

It was impossible for investigating officer Jude Pereira to have obtained Anwar’s semen himself to plant it as evidence. There is no suggestion that [Anwar] has donated his semen in the sperm bank.

 

Even a normal person protects his own semen. And here we have a dignitary who has the whole country conspiring against him; of course he would be careful with his semen.

 

So how did the sperm get into Saiful’s anus? The defence could not explain this.

 

Anonymous_40f4: Blackmoon, there is not a shred of evidence to indicate that Anwar's sperm was found up Saiful's anus. Even the prosecution has not claimed that, but yet you do.

 

There was only Anwar's DNA which could have come from hair, skin, etc, and possibly introduced into the samples by Jude Pereira when he had the samples with him.

 

Pereira has already been found to be an unreliable witness by the courts in another case, i.e. dishonest.

 

Anonymous_3f94: Saiful met Najib and senior police officer Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof two days before the alleged sodomy but the court said there was no conspiracy.

 

The medical specialists said there was no sign of any penetration but the court still said Anwar was guilty.

 

SimonTi: The world is watching this case very closely. This is a desperate race against Anwar that Anwar can never win when every government machinery and every institution of a corrupt regime is invoked to persecute Anwar at all cost for the survival of the corrupt in power.

 

Watch this funny clip and you would know why Anwar could never win the race to Putrajaya.

                   

Krissman: This is what a country I was proud to say I am from has become. This is a blatant abuse of the law. It is the assumption that the Malaysian citizens would not, and could not, do anything when those in power make a mockery of the law.

 

The audacity of those in power to use the police and the judiciary as a tool at their disposal is shameful. Add to this mix, the racist and extremist looney toons running around preaching hatred makes the future look very bleak.

 

World Citizen: Is there any credibility left in the Malaysian judicial system? What's the point of going through this whole charade if the verdict is a foregone conclusion, manipulated to suit the current political establishment?

 

Spirit of Malaya: DSAI (Anwar), a man prosecuted with a vengeance by the powers-that-be but his ship is staying the course and is battling high waves and very stormy seas.

 

His family and comrades are the crew and they are helping to steer the ship pass this very stormy weather.

 

Whether the ship will arrive at its destination or sink with all its crew on it, the hope of the silent majority is in the hands of these five wise men.


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