‘I FELT LIKE I WAS IN A GRAVE FACING GOD, I DON’T KNOW HOW ANWAR COULD ENDURE 13 YEARS’ – FREED FROM JAIL JAMAL YUNOS CLAIMS HE HAS REPENTED, SALUTES ANWAR

KUALA LUMPUR – Sungai Besar Umno division chief Datuk Seri Jamal Mohd Yunos said the ‘test’ he was recently put through has not affected his loyalty towards Umno or Barisan Nasional.

“You don’t abandon the party just because it couldn’t form the government. (It’s) similar to the way you treat your family,” he said when met at his house in Ampang where he held a thanksgiving ceremony following his release on bail yesterday.

Jamal said that he will continue in his efforts to strengthen the party, but will take a ‘softer’ approach from now on, adding that his focus will be to regain Umno members’ confidence.

The former provocateur’s release on Wednesday after spending 27 days in prison followed his arrest in Indonesia where he had been hiding from Malaysian authorities who were seeking him over several criminal cases.

He was granted RM20,000 bail involving three different bailors after the High Court reviewed a Magistrate’s Court decision rejecting his first bail request in July over two trespassing charges.

Jamal said he will turn over a new leaf, and does not blame anyone involved in his incarceration. In fact, he said the experience taught him a priceless lesson.

“It made me repent and has brought me closer to God. I just realised how oblivious I had been before I stepped foot in the prison.

“Hopefully, the experience will help me be someone better,” he said, adding that he is humbled by how Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was able to endure spending 13 years behind bars.

“I seriously salute him for his sacrifice and determination; for putting up with the (deprivations) in prison and still being sane after all those years,” he said, adding that he respects Anwar regardless of whether or not he was guilty of the crime he was accused of.

Jamal said although his time in prison was less than a month, he felt as if he was in a grave facing God.

– NST