COMMENT | Two high-profile young men, two conspicuous trials, six different charges, but the same outcome - one acquitted and freed without the defence being called, and the other had his jail sentence and whipping rescinded on appeal.

One had to spend nine months incarcerated, as bail was not allowed, while the other spent five harrowing years, his integrity being quashed and his character tarnished with a thick brush.

One involved high-powered investigations by the police and the other by the MACC. While in one, the judge was not so kind to the prosecution, suggesting that specific claims by the accused were not investigated by the police, in the other, a three-person panel of judges launched a scathing attack on the investigators - the MACC.

The notes of proceedings at both trials provide insight into how accused persons and witnesses were treated, albeit to gather evidence to support the prosecution.

Both the accused were politically connected. Yusoff Rawther was previously a research assistant in Anwar Ibrahim’s office before he assumed the post of prime minister. Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman is a two-term Muar MP and has served as the youth and sports minister...