Update: Anwar Sodomy Trial
Planet Out,
December 21, 1998
A key accuser testifies against the ex-Malaysian #2 man, while one of his alleged
victims gets out on bail and denounces his confession, and the reform leader’s wife
registers a justice organization.
The trial of Malaysia’s former finance minister and deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim,
on five counts of sodomy and five of abusing his powers to cover up the alleged sex
crimes, has now gone seven weeks and is expected to run another six months. Anwar has
pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming they are part of a political smear campaign
against him. On December 21, the court heard testimony for about an hour and a half from
Ummi Hafilda Ali, the sister of Anwar’s private secretary, Mohamed Azmin Ali.
In an August 1997 letter to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, Ummi had asserted that
Anwar had had an adulterous affair with her sister-in-law, Shamsidar Taharin. (Public
accusations that Anwar had actually fathered his secretary’s child have already been
disproven through blood tests.) Reporters noted that Ummi never looked at Anwar during her
testimony, but instead looked at Judge Augustine Paul. She said that her chief reason for
writing to Mahathir was to "save" her brother, but her seventh and final reason
was "to prevent once and for all the act of unnatural sex of homosexuality which is
cursed by Allah."
Ummi testified that her interrogation by police (who have testified they were ordered
by Anwar to obtain a retraction) was "harsh" and that she finally wrote a
retraction out of fear of being locked up with the general jail population.
According to previous testimony, Ummi had also played a key role in convincing
Anwar’s alleged passive sex partner Azizan Abu Bakar (who worked as Anwar’s
wife’s driver) to send his statement to Mahathir along with her own. Earlier in the
trial, Azizan was briefly the subject of an impeachment hearing after appearing to agree
on cross-examination that Anwar had done nothing to him, but it was decided that defense
attorneys had simply confused him. Azizan went on to shock the court by declaring that on
one day that Anwar had had sex with him, Anwar had also had sex with his own adopted
brother, Sukma Darmawan.
Both Sukma and Anwar’s sometime speechwriter Munawar Anees had pleaded guilty to
sodomy charges and received 6-month sentences on September 19, but both then appealed on
the grounds that their confessions had been coerced by police while they were
incarcerated. Sukma was freed on bail of 10,000 ringgit ($2,600US) on December 21. The
prosecution in Anwar’s trial claims it has videotape of Sukma’s confession it
will introduce into evidence in order to rebut Sukma’s statements of coercion which
defense attorneys read into the record. On December 15, the prosecution introduced a
mattress supposedly stained with Anwar’s semen (lab tests were not yet completed)
from an apartment belonging to the corporation run by Anwar’s former tennis partner,
Solaimalai Nallakaruppan (who himself currently faces charges in a separate capital case
of illegally possessing ammunition discovered during the investigation of Anwar). The
following day, police raided Anwar’s former official residence and seized more
mattresses and pillows.
Outside the courts, Anwar’s wife, Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, on December 18 sought
to register a new group called the Social Justice Movement or ADIL (for Pergerakan
Keadilan Social), which she said was not a political party as had been previously
reported. Wan Azizah had also asked the courts to release Anwar in recognition of Ramadan,
the Muslim holy month of reflection and fasting. On December 18, ADIL issued a statement
condemning the U.S./British assault on Iraq.
After increasing friction with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed on international
economic issues, Mahathir fired Anwar from the cabinet and from their United Malays
National Organization (UMNO) party on September 2, claiming Anwar was morally unfit to
take over as prime minister. Anwar led a series of demonstrations by tens of thousands of
Malays objecting to cronyism and corruption in the Mahathir government; those
demonstrations continued after Anwar’s arrest September 20, but have died out since
the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Malaysia last month. The reform movement
leader was visibly battered when he was first viewed in court after 10 days’
incarceration eliciting widespread international concern, but a promised government
investigation into that beating has yet to be released. The government has promised
additional sex-related charges against Anwar when hearings on the current ten have been
completed.
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