Serving the Poor, and Serving Time : The Missing Man: Anwar
International Herald Tribune
April 14, 2000
Thomas Fuller

Inside a wood-paneled courtroom here Thursday, behind the box where the accused sits, there were a gaggle of supporters, family members, journalists — and a dozen empty seats.

In a country of 22 million people, the trial of Anwar Ibrahim failed for yet another day to attract enough visitors to fill the 60-odd seats in the public gallery of the Kuala Lumpur courtroom.

Even Mr. Anwar's closest political allies agree that the former deputy prime minister's cause has lost the momentum that it had in the months leading up to a general election last November.

In personal terms, reaching his current low profile has been a steep and rapid fall.

Two years ago he strutted through the corridors of power with an entourage of advisers and hangers-on. Were he still in government today, he would probably be in Washington this week, rubbing shoulders with the leaders of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund at their annual spring meeting.

Instead, Anwar Ibrahim is the man the Malaysian government wants you to forget.

Every weekday morning Mr. Anwar walks through the underground passages of the courthouse, the corridors of the powerless, accompanied by five prison guards. He arrives in the courtroom to attend his trial on charges of sodomy. He listens to witnesses' testimony and legal arguments, and punctuates the proceeding with an occasional, desperate outburst that most Malaysians never hear or read about.

"You charge me with whatever you want," Mr. Anwar shouted at the judge Wednesday after he was threatened with contempt of court. "If you've got instructions, then say you've got instructions." Mr. Anwar says he is the victim of a political conspiracy.

Lately, rallies by Mr. Anwar's political allies are attended, at best, by several thousand people — not the tens of thousands that Mr. Anwar drew before he was imprisoned.

The coalition of parties that he helped cobble together from his cell recently lost a hotly contested by-election.

But it is perhaps a measure of Mr. Anwar's remaining strength and popularity that there is at least one group of people of paying very close attention to the fallen politician and his allies: The government of Mahathir bin Mohamad has spent the past several months clamping down on the opposition at every opportunity.

Most recently, police have refused to grant a permit for a rally Saturday to commemorate the anniversary of Mr. Anwar's conviction last April on charges of abuse of power. Mr. Anwar's wife, Azizah Ismail, has said she expects several thousand supporters to attend.

Police vow to arrest anyone who plans to attend the rally and say they will use the country's draconian Internal Security Act if they have to.

"Any police officer who comes to know of anyone planning to commit an arrestable offense may proceed to arrest the person without a warrant," Kamarudin Ali, the Kuala Lumpur police chief, said Wednesday. It is illegal in Malaysia for more than three people to gather in public without a permit.

Mr. Anwar reacted angrily Thursday to the police ban on the protest, hand-writing a statement that was photocopied and distributed by an aide.

"The police must act professionally and not behave arrogantly as political agents or tools for the corrupt ruling clique," Mr. Anwar wrote in his note. "Why deny the rights of the people to organize peaceful meetings?"

In recent months, the government has arrested several of Mr. Anwar's allies on charges of illegal assembly and sedition. It has restricted the publication of the opposition newspaper, Harakah, to twice a month. "If you look at almost everything the Mahathir regime has done," said Chandra Muzaffar, deputy president of the National Justice Party, which was formed by Mr. Anwar's wife, "it seems to suggest that they have decided to tighten the screws."

Copyright © 2006 the International Herald Tribune