On June 28, Anwar Ibrahim was accused of committing sodomy by a 23-year-old former assistant, Saiful Bukhari Azian. Anwar is one of two likely candidates to become Malaysia’s next Prime Minister when current Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi steps down in 2010. Anwar has denied the charges as politically motivated and is suing Saiful for defamation.
Sodomy is a crime under Code 377 of the Malaysian Penal Code and anyone found guilty of committing ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature’ can face up to 20 years in prison and whipping.
This latest accusation echoes the events of 1998, when an aide and a family driver both accused then Deputy Prime Minister Anwar of sodomy. Anwar was convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison for sodomy and six years for abuse of power. While in police custody, Anwar was reportedly beaten by the Chief of Police. The conviction was overturned, and Anwar was eventually released in 2004.
Since his release, Anwar has again risen to power in Malaysia’s opposition party, the People’s Justice Party. Under Anwar’s leadership the party is predicted to provide the most significant challenge to the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to date. The UMNO has been in power for 50 years, and according to an article in the UK’s Daily Telegraph, Anwar has ‘boasted he can persuade enough government MPs to change sides to topple the regime by September.’
In a release by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), Sivarasa Rasiah, one of Anwar’s lawyers, said of the sodomy accusations, ‘We know he [Saiful] is a pawn and is being used, maybe willingly used for various inducements. He’s being motivated, not so much coerced but being induced with money, basically, paid to make the accusation.’
Dr Wan Azizah has further strengthened claims that Saiful’s accusations are politically motivated by producing a photograph of Saiful with the current Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, UMNO’s likely candidate to challenge Anwar in a race to become Malaysia’s next Prime Minister.
Anwar was arrested by police on July 16 and held overnight. Anwar has refused to give a DNA sample, claiming DNA evidence was falsified in his 1998 trial.
