Having long assumed that Barisan Nasional (BN) had merely borrowed the symbolic scales from the figure of justice for its logo, I've become convinced by recent events that it's outright stolen them.

BN's been robbing justice blind for years, of course, but this has been apparent to us casual eye-witnesses only intermittently. In high-profile cases like Dr Mahathir Mohamad's smash-and-grab raid on the judiciary in the 1980s, for example, and snatch-thefts like the Anwar Ibrahim trials a decade later.

But it's become increasingly clear in recent times that BN has co-opted the scales for the purpose of tipping the forces of the law in its favour not just occasionally, but consistently and chronically. And kept the blindfold over the eyes of justice to celebrate its success in pulling the wool over the peoples' eyes with a combination of official obfuscation, blinkered media and laws designed to keep outsiders in the dark.

I'll neither bore you nor tax my limited patience for research by listing all the cases supporting my contention. But those that spring most readily to mind are the recent acquittal of Eric Chia, the closed "investigation" of corruption and sexual-misconduct allegations against the former director of the Anti Corruption Commission, and the circus surrounding the ongoing trial of suspects in the murder of the Mongolian national.

And the latest case in point is last week's nabbing of Nathaniel Tan. His arrest and incommunicado detention were highly irregular if not outright illegal, and his indictment under Section 8 of the Official Secrets Act of 1972 seems strangely illogical. The allegations of corruption against Deputy Internal Security Minister Mohd Johari Baharum that Nat partially published on his website may well have been libelous or slanderous, but suspicions as to the honesty and integrity of public officials can hardly be considered state secrets.

But on the other hand, I'm somewhat surprised that the very existence of the OSA itself isn't a state secret, as almost everything else seems to be, from the terms of contracts for public works to the accounts of the nationally-owned oil company.

Bigger picture

Justice being as unbalanced as it is in BN's contemporary Malaysia, however, the rap they've decided to pin on Nat could be nothing whatever to do with either Johari or his ongoing turf-war with the inspector-general of police over who combats, controls or cashes-in on organised crime.

It could be part of a bigger picture that's been given quite some play in the press lately, namely Kairy Jamaluddin's assertion that BN can "crush" PKR in the forthcoming general elections.

This expression of confidence may be a counter to the incumbent government's growing concern that it's losing its grip on both its closely-held secrets and the scales of justice, and thus destined for eventual defeat.

In a speech last week to the Kuala Krai Umno Youth, Wanita and Puteri wings annual delegates conference, Khairy cited casualties like the Congress Party of India, the Kuomintang Party of Taiwan and the Golkar Party of Indonesia (and oddly omitted to mention the latest impending example, the ZANU-PF of Zimbabwe) in posing the rhetorical question "many political parties fought for their nations' independence, but today where are they?"

Neither Golkar, Soeharto's stooges in his coup against Soekarno and his subsequent slaughter of Chinese and plunder of his nation's riches, nor the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai Shek's corrupt nationalists who fled to Taiwan following their ignominious defeat by Mao Tse Tung's forces, actually fought for their nations' independence, of course, any more than Umno ever did. But the spectre of redundancy for formerly long-dominant parties and coalitions remains.

So is this latest abuse of the scales of justice aimed not at Nat personally at all, but his employer Anwar Ibrahim and Anwar's party, the PKR? Or given that the investigation into the allegations against Nat is being conducted by the Cyber Crimes Division, is it actually intended as a threat against the growing legions of bloggers hell-bent on bringing BN down by betraying its secrets? Or both?

Anwar must do more

If Anwar and PKR are actually the targets, I really don't see the point. As much as I deplored the way Anwar was set-up by Mahathir (on the same sodomy rap, incidentally, on which Dr M's old pal Mugabe got rid of his deputy, a Mr Banana, a couple of years earlier), I couldn't help feeling that finally at least one Umno big-wig was, however unjustly, getting his desserts.

And as strongly as I sympathised with the man as they paraded their perjured witnesses and the stained mattress, then had him assaulted and shut-up in solitary, I still can't view him entirely as a victim.

Nor can I see him today as anything but a spent force. Or, more accurately, as a misspent force. Frittering-away his new-found moral authority on making the fiery speeches for which he's so justly famous and messing-around in petty party-politics when, if he was truly serious and sincere, he could be bringing one documented charge after another against his former corrupt colleagues and their current successors in the Malaysian and possibly even international criminal courts, as well as the courts of local and world public opinion.

His repeated assertions that he will reveal all he knows and act accordingly "when the time comes" are sounding increasingly hollow, and doing nothing to allay many peoples' suspicions that he is "the same old Anwar" and thus not to be trusted.

He's calling for justice for Nat, naturally, as so many of the rest of us are. But if ever Anwar is going to contribute significantly to this country and its people, it's time he did something more concrete about wresting the scales from the clutches of BN and restoring them to justice where they belong.