I applaud the courageous action of the KL Bar Committee to a) demand the resignation of the Bar Council president for his cowardly stand on Federal Court's dismissal of Anwar Ibrahim's appeal, and b) reaffirm the Malaysian Bar's righteous stand in criticising the earlier trial and conviction of Anwar in 1999.

Justice S Augustine Paul's conduct of the trial and the subsequent judgment and sentencing are so manifestly and outrageously unjust that no supreme court can ever hope to uphold such an infamous conviction without defiling itself and dragging the entire institution down with it.

And so, by upholding this universally condemned conviction, the Federal Court has downgraded our entire justice system, and abdicated the judiciary's role as an independent institution to safeguard the people's constitutional rights.

Facing such a crisis, the people of this country look up to the Bar, as the most knowledgeable in this field, to provide the intellectual and moral leadership in what must be a national effort to redress this wrong.

In this connection, it is heartening to know that there are factions within the Bar, like the KL Bar Committee, which could promptly voice its determination to do the righteous.

It is sincerely hoped that the Malaysian Bar will rise to the occasion to honour its vow to uphold the cause of justice, as it has so illustriously done in the past.