The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and SUARAM express their deepest concern regarding the opening on 3 January 2010 of the trial of Anwar Ibrahim, central figure of the Malaysian opposition, accused of sodomy.
The trial of Anwar Ibrahim started on January 3 with Mr. Anwar pleading not guilty and claiming that he is victim of politically motivated criminal suit. In August 2008, a few months after the national election in Malaysia, Mr. Anwar was charged with sodomy against a 24 years old former male aide, under section 377B of the Penal Code of Malaysia that criminalizes homosexuality. Mr. Anwar had faced similar charges in 1998. He was imprisoned and released in 2004 when the guilty verdict was overturned. After his release, he returned to his political activities and since the election of 2008 he represents the main challenge for the ruling party.
There are already signs that the trial will be neither fair nor independent with the prosecution having refused to deliver evidence to the defense. Several irregularities have also marked the pre-trial procedure: the police refused to publicly release the first information report filed by the complainant, as required under Malaysian law; in addition, it is reported that no evidence of “sodomy” was found according to the medical report of an anal examination of the alleged victim conducted by a doctor at Hospital Pusrawi and leaked on the internet on July 29, 2008.
FIDH and SUARAM call upon the Malaysian authorities to respect the international and domestic standards related to the right to a fair trial and to the independence of the judiciary. Our organizations believe that this new trail against a major opposition leader is politically motivated and recall that the right to free and fair elections is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. FIDH and SUARAM also strongly condemn the use of any legislation that criminalizes consensual sex between adults regardless of gender and urges the Malaysian Government to abolish the sodomy laws.