Irregularities do not justify dismissal of Anwars appeal: Bar Council
The irregular rulings made by the trial judge in the corruption case of ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim did not justify the Federal Court's "surprising" decision to dismiss his appeal, said the Bar Council today.
Its president Mah Weng Kwai said although the unanimous dismissal on July 10 must be respected, the council "is of the view that the several irregularities previously highlighted in the trial did not justify a dismissal of Anwar's appeal".
He said the council also regretted that the court did not see it fit to correct the "highly unusual sentencing" imposed by trial judge, Justice S Augustine Paul, who ordered Anwar to start serving his six-year jail sentence from the date of conviction on April 14, 1999 instead of the date of arrest.
Mah also stressed in a press statement that the council's views were founded solely upon established principles of criminal law and the safeguards guaranteed to an accused under Malaysian laws, no matter who he may be.
The views however contradict Mah's earlier comments to malaysiakini .
When contacted on the day the verdict was announced, Mah urged the people to respect the court's decision as he believed that it would have allowed Anwar's appeal if there was enough evidence to do so.
He had also said that those who do not agree with the decision can use the ballot box to show their discontent.
His comments evoked criticism from DAP chief Lim Kit Siang and Parti Rakyat Malaysia vice- president and lawyer R Sivarasa who described it as "shameful".
Anwar's lawyer, Sankara Nair, also took the bar council president to task saying his comments were "unwarranted and misplaced".
Mah said the council is aware of the criticisms against him and clarified that "the remarks should have been understood within the limited context of the telephone conversation and not intended to convey the position of the bar".
Strong comments
Meanwhile, commenting further on Anwar's appeal, the bar council president said: "The dismissal of the appeal is all the more surprising given the findings and strong comments made by the Federal Court in Zainur Zakaria's case as to the conduct of the trial judge at the High Court and the prosecution during the trial."
Zainur, who was Anwar's counsel, was cited for contempt by Paul after refusing to apologise for his application to disqualify senior prosecutors Abdul Gani Patail (now the attorney-general) and Azahar Mohamed for allegedly attempting to fabricate evidence against the former deputy premier.
He was sentenced to three months' jail but his appeal was allowed by Federal Court's Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim, Federal Court judges Abdul Malek Ahmad and Haidar Mohd Noor, who rapped Paul for acting more like a prosecutor than a judge.
Shim and Haidar were also part of the three-person bench (together with Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah) who dismissed Anwar's final appeal last week.
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