Malaysia Faces Dilemma Over Anwar Charges
International Herald Tribune
April 27, 1999
Thomas Fuller

When Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad fired his popular deputy last year, shocking Malaysia and setting off political turmoil that is still far from over, he used plain language to explain the dismissal.

"I cannot accept a man who is a sodomist to become the leader of this country," he said, referring to Anwar Ibrahim, his former protégé and now chief antagonist.

Seven tumultuous months later, the government faces the dilemma of whether or not to pursue its sodomy case against Mr. Anwar.

The former deputy prime minister has already been sentenced to six years in prison in a high-profile corruption trial that tarnished the image of the government and the police force.

The government is scheduled to announce Tuesday its intentions relating to at least one of the five sodomy charges against Mr. Anwar.

Pursuing those charges would mean keeping the former deputy prime minister in the spotlight just as speculation increases that Mr. Mahathir will call general elections soon. The prime minister's allies had hoped that the "Anwar issue" would fade before elections, which must be called within the next 12 months.

The government also seems to face an uphill battle in the case: Three of the men with whom Mr. Anwar is accused of having homosexual relations have retracted their confessions, saying they were coerced by the police.

But dropping the sex charges could also be problematic. Mr. Anwar was not fired because he was corrupt. Dropping the sodomy case could heighten the perception among many Malaysians that the case was politically motivated.

Mr. Anwar, a father of six children, has vigorously denied the charges of homosexuality and claims that he is the victim of a political conspiracy.

Immediately after the corruption verdict this month, Mr. Anwar 's lawyers seemed confident the government would drop the sodomy charges.

"I have my doubts whether the government would want to embark upon those charges, " said Karpal Singh, Mr. Anwar's lawyer, who is an opposition member of Parliament. "I don't see how sex charges could stick when those who were said to be involved affirmed to the contrary," he said, adding, "I think they realize that enough damage has been done to the credibility of the government."

Events last week changed some lawyers' minds. On Friday, the government charged the three men who retracted their confessions with perjury, a step that seemed to indicate the government would pursue the sodomy case in some form.

Mr. Anwar's lawyers say the date of the trial could be as important as the charges themselves. Some political analysts suspect the government wants to call elections in the next few months, before the sodomy trial gets under way.

Holding elections during the trial would not only remind voters of Mr. Anwar's abrupt dismissal and beating in police custody, but could unsettle the many Malaysians who are uncomfortable with seeing words like sodomy appearing daily in the media.

One official in Mr. Mahathir's party described the angry reaction of his elderly father when the sodomy allegations were splashed across newspapers last year.

"You simply don't discuss that," the official's father said. "It's taboo."

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