MALAYSIA FEDERAL COURT REFUSES TO HEAR EVIDENCE OF CONSPIRACY IN POLITICAL LEADER ANWAR IBRAHIM’S APPEAL OF HIS WRONGFUL CONVICTION

PRESS RELEASE May 23, 2016

 

MALAYSIA FEDERAL COURT REFUSES TO HEAR EVIDENCE OF CONSPIRACY IN POLITICAL LEADER ANWAR IBRAHIM’S APPEAL OF HIS WRONGFUL CONVICTION

 

Legal team publishes major report detailing history of Malaysia government’s persecution of Anwar Ibrahim

 

Washington D.C. – A Malaysia Federal Court has rejected new evidence only available after the February 2015 conviction of political leader Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy, which would have proven the government’s history of fabricating evidence against him.  In May 2015, Malaysia’s former national Criminal Investigation Department chief testified under oath that he was requested in 1998 by the former Attorney General to give fabricated evidence against Anwar.

 

Also today, Anwar’s legal team released a major report, White Paper on the Case of Anwar Ibrahim v. Government Malaysia, detailing the ongoing persecution of the imprisoned opposition leader by the Malaysian government. The report launch marks the 471st day of Anwar’s arbitrary detention.

 

Anwar, a former Deputy Prime Minister, led a diverse opposition coalition, cutting across race and religion to win 51 percent of the popular vote among Malaysians in the country’s parliamentary elections in 2013.  He is currently imprisoned on fabricated charges because Prime Minister Najib Razak views Anwar to be a threat to his hold on political power.

 

Anwar’s continued detention is the result of having exercised fundamental human rights, including rights to freedom of opinion and expression.  The newly-released report contains a historical overview of the persecution of Anwar and a detailed legal analysis on the arbitrary nature of his current detention, including specifics of the due process abuses that took place during the flawed proceedings.

 

Violations included a failure to provide Anwar an independent and impartial tribunal, interference with the right to prepare a defense, withholding of key evidence from the defense, failure to present valid evidence, and ongoing denial of medically-appropriate detention conditions.  The case was presented to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which found [2] his detention to be arbitrary and in violation of international law, and urged his immediate release.

 

Just last week, Anwar was rushed from prison to the hospital due to irregular blood pressure, marking the fourth time he has been hospitalized in the past year.  Despite serious threats to his health, Anwar is resolute in fighting his wrongful conviction and returning home to his family.

 

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