Lend support to Anwar's UM speech, public urged

Amid uncertainty whether Anwar Ibrahim will be allowed into his alma matter Universiti Malaya for a speech a day before facing possible jail, the Universiti Malaya Students' Association (PMUM) has urged the public to give its strong backing.

 

"UM is a public space built using the public's resources. Thus, it would be very wrong for the management to deny access to him as this is against the principles of the university.

 

"PMUM would like to urge all the alumni of UM to give full support to this program by attending the event, writing media statements or any method to show that the alumni are with the students to uphold academic freedom together," it said in a statement today.

 

The joint statement was issued by the organisation's president Fahmi Zainol ( left ) and deputy president Lee Jin Yang.

 

PMUM is organising a public speaking event for Anwar on Oct 27, a day before facing a Federal Court decision for a sodomy charge which the opposition leader claims is politically motivated.

 

The event, entitled 'From Universiti Malaya to Jail' is expected to take place at 9pm at Dewan Tuanku Canselor.

 

The duo said it has not applied permission from the university's Department of Students' Affairs as the hall does not fall within its purview. 

 

"In the academic context, we decided to invite Anwar Ibrahim, which is one of our alumni, to deliver a speech in clarifying what actually occurred in the case he is facing from the legal standpoint.

 

"We, the students of UM, uphold academic freedom and humanity, and stand by these principles in the campus community beyond political ideology, race and religion," said the duo.

 

Anwar was on March 7 found guilty by the Court of Appeal for sodomising his former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan and sentenced to five years in jail.

 

He is temporarily free on bail pending a decision at the Federal Court on Tuesday.