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The Anwar Saga: A Masala of a Trial

The Anwar trial for sodomy and corruption fused with the Nallakaruppan trial for illegal possession of bullets last week as the various ingredients are mixed so thoroughly with legal spices and chilly powder that the individual components are hardly recognisable. Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim's defence counsel applied to bar two deputy public prosecutors for their alleged fabrication of evidence in the Nallakarppan case. In that case, Dato' S. Nallakaruppan's counsel, Mr Manjeet Singh Dhillon, was allegedly told by both DPPs that he would consider reducing the charge if his client would "falsely implicate" Dato' Seri Anwar having sexual relations with "various" married and unmarried women. Dato' Nallakaruppan faces the death penalty if convicted. Mr Dhillon himself has stepped down as counsel to testify from the witness stand about the mala fides of the Attorney General's Chambers in the manner in which his client was charged. Mr Dhillon once worked as a police inspector and, after being called to the Bar, in the Attorney General Chambers' before resigning to practice. The Nallakaruppan case is postponed to January 25, when Jagjeet Singh took over as counsel in place of Mr Dhillon, the latter barred under the rules from continuing after taking the witness stand. He wanted time to study the case and this was granted.

The Court of Appeal, meanwhile, postponed Dato' Seri Anwar's application for bail to next Saturday. The Court of Appeal president, Tan Sri Lamin Yunos, said the appeal would affect other appeals. The appeal is against a High Court ruling denying bail. Raja Aziz Addruse, Dato' Seri Anwar's counsel, said he understood the Public Prosecutor would oppose the appeal, citing a November 21 decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of Samad Abas and Another v The Public Prosecutor. It hinges around the amended definition of "decision" in the Court of Judicature Act, 1994, and which became effective on 1 August: "decision" is any judgement, sentence or order, but does not include any ruling made in the course of the hearing of any case or matter which does not dispose off the rights of the parties. Since bail is applied for within the larger case and which would not dispose off the rights of the parties, it becomes not a matter for appeal, a further dimunition of accused rights. The Court of Appeal fixed 5 December for the hearing.

The cases as they unfold in the two High Courts suggest a scramble within the prosecution, as more evidence of bumbling, cracking the veneer of both administrative and practical inscrutability and professional competence. The prosecution case went awry from the moment the first witness took the stand. One former judge was heard to remark that if he were sitting, he would have thrown out the case immediately. That Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim did subborn the Special Branch to do his dirty deed could well be proven, but would the cost of making that public in this fashion be acceptable? The issues beyond the courts have taken a larger significance, as in the courts itself, the main trial is bogged down by applications and appeals that could mire the trials. The cross linking of the Anwar and Nallakaruppan trials ties the actions into a jumble that would take experienced judges to untangle. What was to have been a quick, short trial now dominates the political scene.

Some questions arise: Why did the Special Branch not take action against Dato' Seri Anwar a year ago when these acts of corruption happened? Why did it decide to take action after his dismissal? Especially when prosecution witnesses admit that it did these things when those higher up wanted to and even if they thought otherwise. Why was Dato' Nalla's house turned into a security area before he was detained under the ISA? What this means in practice is that it became a "black area", an area in Malaysian anti-communist theory plagued with an overabundance of communists. Since the "black area" extends 50 yards beyond the designated area, the house of my former school captain and head prefect, Tan Sri Musa Hitam, the former deputy prime minister, is now also a black area, as well of others in the fashionable Bukit Tunku area of Kuala Lumpur. Has the area been gazetted, and degazetted, since the arrest? In high profile cases like these, it is normal for the Attorney General to prosecute. Why has he not? The two judges seem to be taking all this in their stride. But it is clear that the impact would be more than the judgements they deliver. What that is slowly begins to unravel. Meanwhile, there must be quite a few, besides those involved in the trials, waiting for the next clanger to fall. All this before the sodomy trial gets under way.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my