From The International Herald Tribune 9th August 2000

By Rajiv Chandrasekaran

KUALA LUMPUR - Ending a long and lurid trial that has deeply divided this conservative country, a judge Tuesday convicted former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on sodomy charges despite Mr. Anwar's contention that the case against him was contrived by Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad to prevent a leadership challenge.

Mr. Anwar, 52, once seen as the heir-apparent to Mr. Mahathir, was sentenced to a nine-year prison term.

Conviction on the charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, but the sentence was seen as particularly harsh because the judge ruled that Mr. Anwar would begin serving it only after he completed a six-year sentence imposed last year for allegedly interfering in the police investigation of the charges against him.

In a defiant courtroom speech directed at Judge Arifin Jaka, Mr. Anwar called his conviction ''unjust, disgraceful and revolting.''

''It does not disgrace me; it disgraces you, the judiciary and the nation,'' Mr. Anwar said. He vowed to fight the ruling from ''behind bars and prison walls.''

Although the 14-month-long trial raised embarrassing questions about the impartiality of the country's judiciary and featured allegations that senior government officials have abused their power, it has not provided the swift and debilitating blow to Mr. Mahathir that many political rivals had hoped it would.

After an initial flurry of demonstrations, the Anwar case, for all its drama and disgust, failed to sustain a broad, in-the-streets protest movement, the likes of which have toppled such Asian leaders as Suharto in Indonesia and Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines.

At the same time, politicians and analysts in Kuala Lumpur say, the trial has set in motion a measured and more subtle process of political reform that could yield fundamental changes in Malaysia's government over the next several years.

The case, they note, has significantly undermined Mr. Mahathir's standing in the eyes of the average Malaysian and has strengthened previously inconsequential opposition parties.

''The opposition in this country has gained a lot of momentum from the Anwar crisis,'' said Rustam Sani, a sociologist who is a key official with the People's Party, one of four parties that opposes the governing coalition led by Mr. Mahathir's United Malays National Organization. It has been in power since the country's independence from Britain in 1957.

The charges were leveled against Mr. Anwar shortly after Mr. Mahathir abruptly fired him in September 1998, leading Mr. Anwar to call for reform of an entrenched political system that he described as corrupt and plagued by cronyism.

Mr. Mahathir, 74, dismissed Mr. Anwar in the midst of a public disagreement over how the government should respond to a spreading economic crisis that was threatening the stability of several Asian nations.

Mr. Mahathir's supporters contend that Mr. Anwar was trying to undermine the prime minister's political standing, while Mr. Anwar's backers maintain that Mr. Mahathir felt threatened by Mr. Anwar's economic proposals, believing they would implicate the prime minister in a corruption scandal.

Mr. Anwar's conviction on Tuesday stemmed from police allegations that he had sodomized his family's former chauffeur, Azizan Abu Bakar. ''I'm satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt,'' Judge Arifin said in a packed, heavily guarded courtroom. ''I therefore find the defendant guilty as charged.''

The judge said he was not moved by the defense argument that Mr. Anwar was framed as part of a conspiracy orchestrated by Mr. Mahathir. ''I am of the view that it is not an issue in this case and therefore irrelevant,'' he said.

Judge Arifin also said he found testimony by the prosecution's key witness, the former chauffeur, credible, even though he was accused by the defense of changing his story several times. ''He came out unscathed,'' the judge said of the chauffeur. ''There were some discrepancies, and they were explained.''

After issuing the verdict, the judge allowed Mr. Anwar to make a brief address to the court to appeal for a mitigated sentence. But Mr. Anwar took the opportunity to lash out at the judge and Mr. Mahathir, and when the judge tried to silence the defendant, the two got into a shouting match.

''This case has nothing to do with a crime,'' Mr. Anwar said, standing behind his attorneys in a wooden dock. ''There has been no trial in this courtroom. Only political persecution.'' In Malaysia, he said, ''no one is above the law, but that principle doesn't apply to Mahathir Mohamad.''

Mr. Anwar called himself a ''victim of a political conspiracy through a web of intrigue orchestrated by the maestro, Mahathir Mohamad.'' Seething, the judge repeatedly attempted to cut off Mr. Anwar. When the defendant would not stop talking, the judge finally shouted, ''Stop it!'' A few minutes later, he called Mr. Anwar ''a sick man.'' ''You are a sick judge,'' Mr. Anwar shot back.

Judge Arifin then called a recess and stormed into his chambers. On his way out, Mr. Anwar shouted after him, ''Take some Panadol,'' referring to a common Asian headache remedy.

In issuing his sentence, Judge Arifin called Mr. Anwar's alleged behavior with the chauffeur a ''despicable act.'' ''This order of offense should meet with utmost condemnation,'' the judge said. ''People who commit such an offense should be dealt with properly.''

After the proceedings had concluded and Mr. Anwar was escorted back to jail by seven guards, his family and lawyers took issue with the conduct of the trial and the sentence.

The earliest Mr. Anwar could be released from prison, if he receives time off for good behavior, would be in 2009.

''We are very shocked,'' said Nuralizza Anwar, one of the defendant's daughters. ''We never expected it to be so cruelly done.''