After reading through for the third time the views put forward by Charles F Moreira , I can only conclude that the letter must have been written during the time before Malaysians woke up to the fact that, in its endeavour to secure the permanent removal of Anwar Ibrahim from taking over the helm of the government, Umno and its leaders had spared no cost and effort to ensure that Anwar would remain behind bars.

I am compelled to respond only because I believe that readers like me would like to hear something that has not been suggested yet to give the judiciary the courage to stand up and walk away from the political clutches that they have been comfortable with these last 26 years.

Moreira has not provided anything new that Malaysians and the world do not already know. Instead, he seemed to offer contradicting views. While he accepted the very fact that Anwar being charged was politically motivated, he suggested that the best course of action for Anwar's family would be to try and settle the issue domestically.

By that, he meant approaching Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and sympathetic ministers, members of parliament and politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties and urging them to re-open Anwar's case.

I would be sympathetic and forgiving if such ideas were to come from Rip Van Winkle for not knowing what had been taking place since September 1998.

Moreira also suggested that Anwar's family should work towards trying to get a pardon from the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong. In case Moreira is not aware, nobody believes that the charges against Anwar were convincing.

That partly explained why the prosecution had to amend the charges time and again just so the trial could proceed and the judges could carry out their job as directed. Mokhtar Hashim was pardoned for a guilty act. To expect Anwar to seek pardon when he should not have been found guilty in the first place would only embarrass all parties concerned.

Another of Moreira's suggestion was that Anwar should agree to be treated here. Again, in case Moreira is not aware, it is the system that Anwar does not trust. This matter has been explained in great detail by Raja Petra in his letter .

Moreira will certainly recall that Anwar was allowed to attend his mother's funeral. Obviously, Moreira was not aware that the decision to allow Anwar to attend was made only at the last minute.

Hard though it may be to believe, the Prison authorities needed clearance from the top just to allow a prisoner to attend a funeral. With that in mind, I can well understand why Anwar refused to be treated locally.

As for Nurul speaking at the recent Democratic convention in the US, there is no question about her hoping to bring presidential pressure onto Malaysia. As she said, she only wanted the US administration to prod the Malaysian government to allow her father to seek treatment abroad as her father's life is at stake.

Moreira should not set his hopes up high that the US would even consider imposing economic sanctions on Malaysia. No Malaysian, no matter how paranoid they might be, need fear that line of action by the US.

I can well understand the views of Moreira when I consider that he is clinging on to facts at ground level when most Malaysians are looking at Anwar's issue from a higher level, that is, the system within which the government, legislative, judiciary and rulers operate to rule the rakyat.

Therefore, I am not surprised that Moreira should link the defeat of PKR with the waning support for Anwar, much like saying the people voted for Barisan Nasional because they supported a corrupt government who could give them a Kepong Bridge to sing about .

How he could conclude that Anwar would have been stoned to death by now is beyond me, for I am sure Abdullah can explain that, without the accusations being substantiated, Anwar would not have been charged in the first place under Islamic laws.