Charges Against Anwar Altered by Government 
International Herald Tribune
January 14, 1999
Thomas Fuller

CORRECTION PUBLISHED IN THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1999:

Because of an editing error, an article Thursday on the trial of Anwar Ibrahim incorrectly cited local media in Malaysia as the source of a comment from Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad. He was quoted in Japan's Mainichi newspaper.

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The government on Wednesday rewrote its corruption charges against Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, effectively eliminating the need to prove allegations of sodomy and sexual impropriety.

The prosecution will now focus more closely on charges that Mr. Anwar directed police to obtain denials from two people who had accused him of sodomy.

The government's sudden changes, which were accepted by Judge Augustine Paul, could, by limiting the scope of the trial, significantly shorten it.

That could prove beneficial to the government, which is considering calling general elections soon, and would probably see the trial as a distraction.

Mr. Anwar, whose arrest, beating and trial have rocked the political establishment, was infuriated.

"They have already stripped me naked," he said to reporters in the courtroom. "Now they are amending the charges."

The past 11 weeks of the trial have been filled with evidence designed to prove his homosexuality: a semen-stained mattress, DNA tests and a witness who said he was Mr. Anwar's "sex slave." The trial proceedings are reported almost verbatim in newspapers here.

"Having smeared his reputation, it is now unjust and highly prejudicial to the accused if the charges were allowed to be amended as proposed," said Raja Aziz Addruse, Mr. Anwar's lead counsel.

Mr. Anwar was more terse: "They cannot prove, they change."

In his ruling on the matter, the judge said: "I'm of the view that it's no real substantive change. The accused isn't prejudiced by these amended charges."

In the new charges, prosecutors changed the words "sodomy committed by him" to "allegations of sodomy." Where the charges had read that Mr. Anwar acted "in order to protect himself from criminal action or proceedings" the prosecution substituted: "to save himself from embarrassment."

Mr. Anwar's wife, Azizah Ismail, said the government's move showed the weakness of the original charges.

"The prosecution set out to prove to the world that Anwar Ibrahim is a sodomist and guilty of sexual misconduct," she said. "These allegations collapsed. Anwar will be vindicated with the grace of God."

Mr. Anwar is also charged with separate counts of sodomy, but it is unclear what the latest development means for those charges, which were scheduled to be heard once the current trial is over.

With the prosecution's case nearly over, lawyers say the defense could start calling witnesses as early as next week.

Defense lawyers said Wednesday that they intended to call to the stand Mr. Anwar, Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, who fired Mr. Anwar in September, and Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin.

The trial is widely perceived to have tarnished some key Malaysian institutions, most notably, perhaps, the police. Police officers have testified during the trial that they intimidated witnesses in all-night interrogation sessions in order to get them to change their statements.

Police also beat Mr. Anwar when he was in custody in September, leaving him badly bruised. His arrest followed a protracted political battle between Mr. Anwar and Mr. Mahathir, his former mentor.

Mr. Mahathir said in an interview published Wednesday that Mr. Anwar's political future was in the hands of the court.

"If the court decides he is guilty he will not be active," Mr. Mahathir was quoted as saying in the local media. "If he is not guilty I am sure he will be active. But it will take time."

Mr. Anwar was the prime minister's anointed heir before the two men had a falling out.

Last week Mr. Mahathir appointed Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to replace Mr. Anwar.

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