MALAYSIA: ANWAR IBRAHIM SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS IN JAIL AT END OF TRIAL THAT HAS SPLIT THE COUNTRY AND SPURRED CALLS FOR DEMOCRACTIC REFORM
Record ID:
208335
MALAYSIA: ANWAR IBRAHIM SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS IN JAIL AT END OF TRIAL THAT HAS SPLIT THE COUNTRY AND SPURRED CALLS FOR DEMOCRACTIC REFORM
- Title: MALAYSIA: ANWAR IBRAHIM SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS IN JAIL AT END OF TRIAL THAT HAS SPLIT THE COUNTRY AND SPURRED CALLS FOR DEMOCRACTIC REFORM
- Date: 8th August 2000
- Summary: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (AUGUST 8, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. LV COURT/ SECURITY ARRIVING 0.15 2. MV POLICE 0.20 3. MV CAR WITH ACCUSED ANWAR IBRAMHIM PULLS UP/ANWAR GETS OUT OF CAR/WAVES TO SUPPORTERS 0.30 4. INT INTERIOR OF COURTHOUSE 0.37 5. SV (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANWAR'S LAWYER GURBANCHAN SINGH SAYING: "Very severe. And so commencing consecutively after the expiry of the first imprisonment term. Very excessive." 0.49 6. SV (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANWAR'S LAWYER CHRISTOPHER FERNANDO SAYING: "I think it is grossly excessive and I think the court ought to have granted or made the sentence concurrent. But this order that the sentence will take effect after -- the -- the Dato Sri has spent the six years -- now we have a total of about 15 year sentence. Yes we are going to appeal. We're appealing both against conviction and sentence, both." 1.26 7. MV SUPPOTERS AT DOOR TO COURT/ANWAR'S WIFE WAN AZIZAH WAN ISMAIL 1.30 8. SV (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANWAR'S WIFE WAN AZIZAH SAYING: "An appeal will be filed in fourteen days." 1.38 9. MV ANWAR'S DAUGHTER NURUL IZZAH WITH SUPPORTERS 1.47 10. SV (SOUNDBITE) (English) NURUL IZZAH SAYING: " We are very, very shocked of course, and we're very angry. We didn't expect it to be so cruelly done. And of course as my mother said we will file an appeal in fourteen days. And the fight will still go on regardless of anything." 2.02 11. SV ANWAR IN COURT FOYER/WAVES 2.25 12. MV/SLV ANWAR SAYING GOOD BYE TO HIS WIFE AND FAMILY/MOTORCADE DRIVES OFF (2 SHOTS) 3.04 13. MV PEOPLE OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE 3.11 14. SLV POLICE ARRESTING SUPPORTER/CARRYING HIM ACROSS STREET/THROWING HIM INTO TRUCK 3.56 15. MV SUPPORTER WAVING FROM POLICE VAN 4.02 16. TRACK POLICE ARRESTING SUPPORTER 4.05 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 23rd August 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
- Country: Malaysia
- Reuters ID: LVA1EXVA16208PJIUC9MHW5M620N
- Story Text: Former Malaysian finance minister Anwar Ibrahim has
been found guilty of sodomy
and sentenced to nine years in jail at the end of a trial that
split the country and spurred calls for democratic reform.
High Court Judge Arifin Jaka on Tuesday (August 8)
ruled that Anwar, 52, and his
adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan, 39, were guilty of sodomy.
Both accused plan to appeal the verdict, delivered as
police stood guard outside the courthouse watching hundreds of
Anwar's supporters who had gathered in the area.
The judge said Anwar would start a nine-year prison
sentence after he finishes a six-year jail term for corruption
which began in April 1999. Anwar had faced up to 20 years in
the sodomy case.
Sukma was given six years in prison and four strokes of a
cane but his sentence was suspended pending appeal.
Caning is limited to convicts aged 49 years and below,
sparing Anwar, who turns 53 on Thursday (August 10).
Prisoners who show good behaviour in Malaysia generally
serve two thirds of their jail terms. Anwar, who was sacked in
1998, could thus end the corruption jail term in 2003 and the
sodomy sentence in April 2009.
Under Malaysian law Anwar cannot hold public office for
five years from the date of release from prison. That means he
could not hold office before 2014, at age 66. The full 15
years would keep him in the political wilderness until 2019.
Fellow defence lawyer Gurbachan Singh called the sentence
excessive.
"Very severe. And so commencing consecutively after the
expiry of the first imprisonment term. Very excessive," he
told reporters.
The former prime minister-in-waiting will appeal against
the verdict, defence lawyer Christopher Fernando said.
Fernando said " I think it is grossly excessive and I
think the court ought to have granted or made the sentence
concurrent. But this order that the sentence will take effect
after -- the -- the Dato Sri has spent the six years -- now
we have a total of about 15 year sentence. Yes we are going to
appeal. We're appealing both against conviction and sentence,
both."
Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail also said an appeal
would be filed.
His daughter Nurul Izzah said the family was very upset at
the ruling.
" We are very, very shocked of course, and we're very
angry," she said.
"We didn't expect it to be so cruelly done. And of course
as my mother said we will file an appeal in fourteen days. And
the fight will still go on regardless of anything," she
added.
Anwar testified in both of his trials that Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad and his associates had framed him in a sex
scandal to stave off a possible leadership challenge.
Mahathir has denied the accusation, saying Anwar was
morally unfit to succeed him.
Anwar and Sukma Darmawan were jointly accused of
sodomising Azizan Abu Bakar, the Anwar family's former driver,
one night between January and March 1993. The prosecution
twice rewrote the charges to change the year of the alleged
sodomy offences.
Human rights group SUARAM expressed grave concern over the
verdict, saying it eroded public confidence in the judiciary.
Several people were arrested as a small group of
anti-government protesters, some holding a banner saying "Free
Anwar Campaign", gathered outside the courthouse ahead of the
verdict.
Authorities had said they would crack down on any
protests by Anwar's supporters. Since he was sacked in
September 1998, supporters have periodically taken to the
streets to demand an end to Mahathir's 19-year rule.
About 300 of Anwar's supporters defied a government
warning on Friday and protested outside the courthouse. Seven
people were arrested. Apart from some scuffles, the protest
ended peacefully.
On Tuesday, two water cannon trucks were parked at the
square, and a police helicopter flew over the area.
Anwar waved to reporters as he entered the courthouse
after being driven in a police van from Sungai Buloh prison on
the outskirts of the capital, where he has been serving the
six-year corruption sentence since April 1999.
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