The judiciary had let slip a "gold opportunity" to redeem its image of corruption by dismissing Anwar Ibrahim's former speech writer Dr Munawar Ahmad Anees's application for a review of the judgement to clear his name from a sodomy charge.

"The ghosts that haunt the judiciary shall not rest where litigants and the public are unconvinced that the court's decisions accord with justice," said Selayang PKR legislator William Leong in a statement issued today.

Munawar failed in his bid on Monday to get parts of the Federal Court judgment dated Dec 17, 2008 related to his sodomy case expunged.

pkr weekly pc 310108 william leong Citing the Federal Court's acquittal of Anwar on his sodomy charge after concluding that Sukma Darmawan Sasmita Atmadja confession of engaging in "unnatural sex" was forced out of the latter after abuse and torture, Leong ( right ) said:

"The courts by not reviewing the conviction of the sodomy charges on merit but dismissing the application on technical and procedural grounds, lost a golden opportunity to regain public confidence in the judiciary."

Munawar had appealed to the courts' to set aside his conviction on the grounds that his confession, was also made involuntarily but his application was dismissed on technical grounds.

"The problem of the judiciary is not due to insufficient laws but is due to insufficient political will to set right the wrongs done," said Leong.

"The public has since 1988 perceived the courts as an adjunct of the executive. Instead of acting as the last bastion of defending the ordinary citizen against the excesses of the executive, the courts have been seen as acting as the executive's hatchet man," he added.

Deliver justice even if the heavens fall

Moreover, he urged the judiciary to find the courage and conviction to decide without fear or favour and deliver justice "even if the heavens fall".

Leong, who is a trained lawyer, stressed that only then can the judiciary regain public trust and confidence.

On Monday, Chief Judge of Malaya Arifin Zakaria and Federal Court judges Mohd Ghazali Mohd Yusoff and Raus Md Sharif unanimously dismissed Munawar's application.

His application was for a review to remit his appeal against the conviction and the six-month jail term sentence back to the High Court for argument on merit.

Munawar, 61, had served six months in prison in 1998 after he pleaded guilty at the Sessions Court, to allowing Anwar sodomise him at the former's house in Jalan Setia Murni 1, Bukit Damansara, in March, 1993.

Although he had served sentence, Munawar had decided to challenge the court's decision to clear his name, claiming that he was coerced into pleading guilty.