Anwar Ibrahim for Sodomy II:

Justice is Not Only a Fact to be Established; It Must Also be Seen to be So Establishe.

Sunday, 09 March 2014.

This item has been updated since initial publication.

ImageThe Malaysian Bar is deeply troubled by the conviction and sentence to five years’ imprisonment of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim by the Court of Appeal, for what was essentially consensual sex between two adults.

Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim was convicted and sentenced under section 377B, read with section 377A, of the Penal Code.

Section 377A of the Penal Code criminalises sodomy and oral sex (fellatio). Section 377B provides that whosoever voluntarily commits the acts described in section 377A shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty years, and shall also be liable to whipping. 

 

These provisions make no distinction between heterosexual and homosexual consensual sexual acts, and are thus applicable to both.

A law is only good and just if it is consistently and equally applied and enforced. It is extraordinary that Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been prosecuted and convicted twice, in a country that has rarely seen a prosecution and/or conviction for an offence of consensual sexual acts between adults under section 377A, read with section 377B, of the Penal Code.

This glaring anomaly and inconsistency brings the administration of justice into disrepute. It also fuels a perception that Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim is being persecuted, and not prosecuted.

The charge against Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim is based on an archaic provision of the Penal Code, and should never have been brought. 

 

The case has unnecessarily taken up judicial time and public funds, and has muddied the waters of our justice system.

The Malaysian Bar.