901-Free Anwar Campaign: Since when is it a crime to show support for a person!

A few days ago several lads were arrested for distributing pamphlets advertising the upcoming show of support for Anwar Ibrahim on January 9th, the day when the verdict of the Sodomy II trial is due to be delivered .

In a gross violation of personal rights, the arrests were made and the pamphlets taken away. The high-handed police action was then followed by a series of events engineered to black-ball Anwar, and the show of support planned by his PKR party and Pakatan Rakyat coalition at the court house where the judge is widely expected to deliver a 'guilty' verdict despite manifestly fabricated charges.

Dare not testify

Anwar, the Opposition Leader and arch rival of Prime Minister Najib Razak, has accused Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor of plotting the sodomy conspiracy with complainant Saiful Bukhari Azlan to derail his political advance. Indeed, the first couple has studiously avoided giving their testimony at the trial despite having met Saiful days before he lodged a police report that led to the current case.

The first couple's recalcitrance has sparked outrage and accusations they were guilty as charged. But with the power of the government machinery behind them, Najib and Rosmah have further abused the judiciary and police to further clamp down on Anwar. Political groups linked to Najib's UMNO party and BN coalition have also rushed to join the fray.

Frontline critics for the proposed gathering of 100,000 Anwar supporters include Perkasa and the police. Undoubtedly, their resistance to the 901 Free Anwar campaign is sponsored by UMNO-BN, which is going all out to frighten Malaysians from attending and showing their support for the popular and charismatic Anwar.

Since when has it been a crime to show support for a person

Yet, what crime is it to show support for a popular leader? What crime is it for 901 supporters to gather outside the court house in a peaceful manner? And why is it that the only people who have so far displayed malice in their words and deeds are Perkasa, the police and UMNO-BN?

Additionally, why would the police keep trumpeting the number of complaints allegedly receiver from Anwar's detractors? Why should they even entertain police reports over an event that has yet to run? Are all those making the police reports masters of divinity? Can they foretell trouble, or are they presaging trouble that they themselves hope to provoke? If such forecasting skills are plentiful within the ranks of UMNO-BN, it may be better put to use by predicting the economic future of Malaysia in the coming years. That would certainly be more useful as it can help the hapless Finance minister put the economy right at last!

There have also been other incidents where protests have been carried out by UMNO-BN, for example the recent Himpun rally for 1 million Muslims to protest against Christians for allegedly proselytizing members of the Islamic faith. Then, there were sporadic protests but did the police go into hyper-drive? Why now, for the 901 Free Anwar Campaign? Only the July 9 Bersih rally has produced the kind of reaction and response being shown now towards the 901 gathering.

Murder can be swept under the carpet in UMNO's Malaysia

In June 2011, during the reading of the verdict for the Datuk-T video fiasco, there also were also groups of people showing their support for the trio of UMNO members who had framed Anwar for a sex scandal, outside the court complex. Their show of support for Datuk T plus defamatory banners against Anwar were widely covered in the mainstream media and TV. Yet, the Datuk T trio was found guilty of showing pornographic material in public, albeit they escaped with the lightest of sentences.

The point is, why is Prime Minister Najib Razak and his UMNO party encouraging and supporting criminal behaviour? Frankly speaking, 9 out of 10 Malysians would say it is becaue they themselves are perptrating the crimes and conspiracies. It is indeed worth noting that Najib and wife Rosmah have been implicated in as terrible a crime as murder and yet managed to pull enough strings to escape an thorough probe by the authorities! Perhaps, this is why investors are shunning Malaysia, where law and order has gone so topsy-turvy that sodomy charges can be whipped out while murder charges can be swept under the carpet.

It is also telling that the likes of Perkasa and the police were silent at this form of “protest” by the Datuk T. Obviously neither dared to even breathe any mention of Altantuya Shaariibuu, the beautiful Mongolian girl found murdered in Malaysia in 2006 by two bodyguards of the first couple. While they have been sentenced to hang, few Malaysians believe that they acted on their own and one of the them even said he was paid RM100,000 to kill Altantuya but the famous Malaysian courts suddenly went deaf, refusing to allow any line of questioning that delved into this aspect.

Hisham and his hydra-headed approach to a single law

In 2009, there was the infamous case of the 'cow-head' protest by 50 UMNO supporters to complain against the planned construction of a Hindu temple. Their grouse was vile in nature, and smelt of racist and religious hatred. Yet, even that “protest” - again because it was an UMNO event - was defended by Home Minister Hishammuddin Onn.

Hishammuddin, who is Najib's cousin, defended the actions of the protesters by saying that they cannot be blamed and cited several reasons. But it was clear the demonstration was illegal and without a government-issued permit. All Malaysians have the right to peaceful assembly but why twist and turn the law to UMNO's advantage and accuse only the opposition ralliers of sedition when no demonstration can be as obviously seditious and violent as the cow-head protest.

Compare and contrast the statements Hishammuddin made in 2009 with the ones he stated in reference to the planned rally on January 9, 2012. In 2009, Hisham said the protesters had limited the size of their demonstration, the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor state government had made a poor decision in relocating the Hindu temple, the people should be allowed space to voice their opinions and similar incidents have happened before, such as pig heads being thrown into UMNO grounds.

Now in 2012, while Hisham has stopped short of banning the January 9 gathering, he has stressed that in the spirit of the newly-passed Peaceful Assembly Act 2011, the organizers must offer guarantees that the rally will not turn chaotic.

“On this matter, if we look at the spirit of the Act, the key concern is public peace and order. So it is highly likely that the organisers have to convince the police that their plans will not destroy public peace and safety, and if they want to gather, the spirit of the Act states that it must be done peacefully,” he told a press conference on Wednesday.

“I think the police will also take that into consideration. The organisers must be responsible and be aware of the rights of those who are opposed to the rally. I recommend that they go and speak to the police first, rather than making statements about the gathering."

Alice in Wonderland

The police have already summoned the leaders of the Pakatan Rakyat over the January 9 rally. PAS spiritual adviser Nik Aziz Nik Mat has appealed to the government to allow the rally to protest, while PKR deputy president Azmin Ali has already promised to meet with the authorities.

Notwithstanding the latest, Hisham - an UMNO vice president - has compromised his responsibility to protect Malaysians. Instead, he is toeing his party lines. Allowing arrests for crimes that have yet to happen and allowing real crimes to be swept under the rug. Why has the Home Minister allowed the likes of Perkasa to get away with scathing statements against Christians, Chinese and undergraduates?

But a peaceful rally of 100,000 Anwar supporters at a landmark court verdict is suddenly seditious! Is it that only UMNO and their supporters have rights and all other citizens have none? Must every form of expression in Malaysia be viewed through the tainted glasses of UMNO-BN? And thus, only UMNO-BN has the authority to grant permission for how Malaysians choose to live their lives?

The young lads arrested for passing out the 901 pamphlets committed only one crime. They pricked UMNO-BN the wrong way and the emotional beast that it is, UMNO-BN had them arrested.

Yes, Malaysia has become an Alice in Wonderland of sorts. UMNO rules by whim and fancy. In other words, there is no law of the land anymore. Something that many Malaysians have noticed and thus the impetus for the growing ABU movement - Anything But Umno!

Malaysia Chronicle