After Anwar petition, White House tells Putrajaya to apply rule of law

President Barack Obama's administration says its cooperation with Malaysia would continue although it would continue to press Putrajaya to stop crackdown on dissent. – Reuters pic, March 13, 2015.

The White House today expressed its disappointment over Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's guilty conviction for sodomy, and urged Putrajaya to apply the rule of law to promote confidence in the country's democracy, judiciary and economy.

In a statement following the close of a petition launched by former US ambassador to Malaysia John Malott to press for Anwar's freedom, the Obama administration said the worry was compounded by the Malaysian government's intention to expand the sedition law against critics, despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's promise to repeal it.

The statement said the US had made its concerns on Anwar's conviction clear through statements and interactions with Putrajaya and would continue to do so.

"The initial decision to prosecute Mr. Anwar, the decision to appeal the not guilty verdict, and the overturning of that verdict raise a number of serious concerns about the rule of law and the fairness of the judicial system in Malaysia," the White House statement said.

It added that the two countries were committed to work together on the economy and security challenges, but said Washington would continue to urge Malaysia to apply the rule of law fairly, transparently and apolitically.

"History has shown that countries that uphold the human rights of all their citizens, regardless of their political affiliation, ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual orientation, are ultimately more prosperous and more stable, the White House said.

The petition for Anwar's freedom achieved 113,122 signatures, more than the 100,000 required to qualify a response from the Obama administration.

The Federal Court on February 10 upheld Anwar's sodomy conviction and his five-year jail sentence.

Meanwhile, the US Embassy said yesterday more than 60,000 signatures were removed from a counter-petition to the White House on Anwar because they originated from disposal email services.

From more than 70,000 signatures initially, the petition that took issue with the Washington's stand on Anwar's conviction was reinstated online with around 12,000 signatures.

"The White House did remove 60,789 signatures deemed to be fraudulent because a vast majority of those signatures originated from slipry.net.

"Other fraudulent signatures originated from trashmail, sharklasers, and mallinator – all disposable email services. Those fraudulent signatures occurred over the life of the petition," the embassy added.

The counter petition was started nearly a month ago after the petition in support of Anwar's freedom was launched.

It said Malaysians were "outraged" with the White House's statement expressing disappointment with Anwar's jailing, and told the US to "stop interfering in Malaysia's judiciary and rule of law".

Malott's petition, "Make the release of Malaysian Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim from prison a top priority for US policy towards Malaysia", was also temporarily removed after standard fraud checks by the White House erroneously identified it as a petition with fraudulent signatures.

The embassy clarified on Wednesday that it was not the free Anwar petition but the counter petition which had fraudulent signatures.

The counter petition, titled "Respecting the Sovereign Nation of Malaysia", reached 12,612 signatures as of this morning.

- TMI