‘Sodomy II attacks increased after Sept 16 coup bid’

The US expects another dirty round of judicial exploitation by the ruling coalition to kill off Anwar Ibrahim.

KUALA LUMPUR: Washington believed the intense attack on Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim while facing his Sodomy II trial escalated out of fear over his Sept 16 attempt to wrest federal power through mass defections.

A leak diplomatic cable by whistleblower site WikiLeaks – published in Malaysia Today today – also showed that the US expected another dirty round of judicial exploitation by the ruling coalition to kill off the PKR leader’s political career as Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak would want his nemesis wiped out.

“Senior Malaysian authorities were very aggressive in handling the present case during the initial period of June-September 2008, but, coinciding with the passing of Anwar’s deadline to bring down the government through parliamentary cross-overs, have since taken a more measured ‘rule-of-law’ approach in public.

“The authorities have not taken all the legal and extra-legal measures available to them, for example, to challenge Anwar’s bail provisions or resolve an earlier impasse regarding the court venue,” political counsellor with the Malaysian US Embassy, Mark D Clark, was quoted as saying.

Anwar is currently in the docks for the second time in 10 years for allegedly sodomising his aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008 just months after the opposition scored significant gains in the March 8 polls the same year.

He claimed openly that the charges were trumped up and were engineered by Najib, who was deputy prime minister at the time, and wife Rosmah Mansor – an allegation they denied.

Anwar’s defence lawyers have asked the court to grant them rights to interview the two but both said they will not do it unless subpoenaed.

Clark said in the cable that the court would likely favour Najib and Rosmah and not force them to face Anwar’s lawyers.

‘Conviction is the desired outcome’

The leaked cable further stated that it concurred with the view that conviction would see Anwar, now in his mid-60s, “killed off” while Najib would make it pass as a “normal law enforcement matter”.

It also said that indications of political interference and manipulation in the present case (Sodomy II) are compelling.

“Based on an assessment that Anwar is a threat to Umno’s continued rule at least at the time of the next national election, Najib and Umno elites decide that the political costs of prosecuting Anwar are acceptable and pursue the matter aggressively inside and outside the courtroom, with the overriding goal of convicting Anwar and removing him permanently from politics.”

Clark said the evidence surrounding the trial, like Saiful’s supposed meeting with Najib and “collateral reporting” by government-owned media, was a compelling substantiation of allegations that the trial is politically motivated.

“The government-directed mainstream press, which includes all major dailies and all TV stations, provided extensive coverage of Saiful’s allegations while severely limiting reporting on Anwar’s response during the heated period of June-August 2008.”

Clark also revealed that Umno leaders close to the US Embassy took painstaking efforts to convince the latter of the veracity of the sodomy allegations.

He also said he believed Anwar’s conviction is the most desired outcome despite Najib’s confidence that Barisan Nasional can bounce back from its dismal performance in the 2008 election.