YOURSAY 'To send someone to prison even for a day when there is doubt, is a tragedy.'
Will Federal Court shine in Anwar's final appeal?
Haveagreatday: Kim Quek, you have, as usual in your highly analytical style, shown why in any court of law that is independent of political pressure - one that is just and fair - Anwar should walk away a free man.
Yet, five of our nation's supposedly most eminent judicial brains find it necessary to make deliberations at the end of the submissions.
Looking at past case histories where politically sensitive implications are involved, the thinking rakyat can be forgiven if they await the Federal Court's verdict with pessimism and a sense of gloom.
Skong: I just pray and hope the five judges will deliver their judgment without fear or favour. This is the case where they can reverse the perception the rakyat has about the judicial system in Malaysia.
Axolotl: Thank you, Kim, for your excellent and extremely lucid summary of all the key points of this entirely obscene and all too obvious example of how evil schemes invariably backfire on their perpetrators.
Mushiro: Four doctors from two hospitals physically examined Saiful and found no physical evidence of penetration. What more is there to prove?
Pputeh: True, Kim, that's what all Malaysians are praying for. This man Anwar and his family have suffered enough. May God's hand be guiding these five judges to make the right and honest decision.
To send someone to prison even for one day when there is doubt, is a tragedy and is wrong. We pray the honourable judges will do what is right.
SRMan: Since Kim had mentioned about third party DNA, may I add something. Prosecutor Shafee had offered two possible scenarios for the presence of a third party DNA. (1) Saiful sat on a public toilet bowl and thus the "sperm supposedly lodged in his anus" might have contracted a third party DNA.
But then, Saiful said he had not passed motion for two days, he would not have sat on a toilet seat.
(2) Dr Osman from Pusrawi had not put on surgical gloves on his fingers when he tunneled his way into Saiful's rectum, thus the presence of the third party DNA.
But who would want to go in 'bare-fingered' given the fact that the so-called victim still had a two-day precious load of cargo in his rectum? I believe a third party's semen (not Anwar's) planted with Anwar's DNA, is a very likely scenario.
And the last minute sperm donor could very well be the person in charge of keeping the sample and then broke it open without justification. That perhaps explains the pristine condition of the semen even after 96 hours.
War Child: Whatever the judgment, the general public opinion is that Anwar will be blocked by Umno Baru on his path to Putrajaya, by hook or by crook.
On the other hand Anwar has openly faced the voters and even faced the courts of the land to defend all the accusations thrown at him. The mass demonstrations for Reformasi led by Anwar when he fell out of favour with the Mahathir regime were justified.
Quigonbond: Either way is fine for Pakatan. They incarcerate Anwar and there will be a price to pay. They let him go, and there is a price to pay, too.
Somehow, I wonder if the price has already been paid because Anwar has kept a very low profile lately. Perhaps in keeping to this bargain, he will continue to do so upon his release.
The bigger question is this - if he is convicted, wither the rule of law? Down the line, there'll be people convicted without solid corroborative evidence.
It does make one wonder: with such human/systemic flaws, how can we even think of implementing hudud with permanent maiming of the body?
The judges have more than just this one case to think about. They have to think about legacy, and how much personal sacrifice they are willing to make, to uphold the rule of law.
Azlan: Malaysian judges since 1988 (the beginning of the judiciary's downhill decay) cannot possibly uphold their professional integrity in an absolute sense, even if their conscience wants them to do so.
So what matters, for anyone in their position, is not so much the facts and finer points of law but what are the direct implications, if they act or decide one way or the other.
You know why? Hey man, there is so much at stake at the personal level, e.g. future promotions, prospects of getting positions after retirement, etc.
And if you have a skeleton, someone out there will jump at the opportunity to kill or destroy you professionally. So discretion is the better part of valour.
Be always on the safe side and never go against the establishment. So you know the outcome of this trial, don't you?
Bumiputhran: By all antecedents, the five judges would be in a deep dilemma. On one hand there is the principle of lawful decision based on the logics of legal procedure, ingrained in the minds of the judges by their Western law education, as opposed to the Umno agenda to convict Anwar at any cost.
On which side will the five judges prevail? It's a dilemma of deep concerns for them.
SanctusSanctusSanctus: Clear as crystal, this case was politically motivated and it would indeed be cruel to Anwar if the perpetrators of the conspiracy should succeed at the end of the day.
Politics is a dirty game, but this one really takes the cake. As the Australian ex-judge Elizabeth Evatt asked, "Why only Anwar?"
Caesar: With so many doubts, it's up to the five judges whether they want to throw the case out and safeguard the integrity of the judiciary and themselves, or fall for political pressure and confirm they have no integrity.
Love God n do gd: Can the public trust the five judges to be truly just and honest and to be able to deliver justice without fear and favour? Are they strong enough to be truthful?
Anwar's story is very clear to the public, it is a made-up story to put him behind bars for political purposes.
Those who are involved can cheat in this world. Satan has already assured the world: “If you fall down and worship me, I will give you all the wealth and power of this world... but your soul is mine.” This means you will drop into everlasting fire forever, where Satan lives.
Ksn: Kim, thanks for the analysis. I hope the Federal Court judges will reach the same conclusions which will be to the benefit of the accused, the judiciary and the country. I expect they too will read this article, for this is the way the country generally feels as well.
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