The Court of Appeal postponed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's bail application hearing halfway during arguments after being told that he has to perform the akad nikah (wedding vows) ceremony for his eldest daughter Nurul Izzah this afternoon.

Acknowledging that it was an important event, Justices Pajan Singh Gill, Richard Malanjum and Hashim Mohd Yusof allowed his application for the postponement.

However, the court rejected Anwar's application for an interim stay for three days so that he could be with his family for the wedding celebration.

Proper application

The court said it could not consider the application as the matter was within the discretion of the Prisons Department and Home Ministry.

The judges then advised Anwar too make a proper application to the relevant authorities and ordered Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail to assist him.

"The learned AG is to assist the appellant in any way so that he could enjoy his daughter's wedding," said Justice Palan.

Anwar's lead counsel Christopher Fernando made the application after the court agreed to postpone the bail application hearing to an unconfirmed date.

Anwar's co-accused and adopted brother Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja also made similar application stating that he was close to the family.

In his submission, Fernando urged the court to allow the ex-deputy premier an interim stay of execution so that he could be with his family during this occasion.

"We are asking in humility for the court to be compassionate and allow Datuk Seri Anwar to marry off his daughter and be with them in the celebrations for the next three days.

"If Your Lordship was in the same position, you would want to be able to officiate and give away your first daughter. We plead that this court allows him to go back to his family today, tomorrow and the day after," he said.

Admitting that the request was peculiar, the lawyer argued that there were special and compelling reasons for the court to exercise its discretion to allow the interim bail.

AG objects

Abdul Gani objected to the application stating that the matter should be left to the Home Ministry since an application had been made earlier.

He urged the court not to consider the application since the decision was within the purview of the ministry.

Fernando replied that Anwar had applied to the Prisons Department o­nly to be allowed home for a few hours for the akad nikah ceremony but was seeking the court's compassion to grant a three-day interim stay.

This morning's proceedings started around 10am with the arguments of the ex-deputy premier's counsel Karpal Singh who submitted for about an hour before the court adjourned.

The lawyer said Anwar should not be held in prison until the Federal Court had fully determined his fate.

He stressed that in cases of sodomy, bail had always been granted pending appeals to higher courts and cited several recent cases, including that of o­ne Kesavam Sundram.

He said Kesavan had been convicted of a similar offence at the Sessions Court but was given bail and stay of execution pending appeal. When the High Court rejected his appeal, he was granted bail as well.

"Yesterday the Court of Appeal allowed his appeal. Imagine the injustice that would have occurred if he was made to serve the sentence immediately," he said.

Successful appeal

Karpal said there is a likelihood that Anwar's appeal would succeed at the Federal Court since it had strong points of law.

He added that it would be take some time before the appeal can be heard and thus the ex-deputy premier should not be incarcerated during this period.

"Even if this court would hand down its written judgment within the next three months, we doubt that the Federal Court could hear the appeal immediately after. We feel the appeal would be heard, the earliest, next year," he said.

The lawyer said it would be unfair for Anwar to remain behind bars while other accused facing a similar situation were allowed bail.

"Judges must ensure that justice prevails in the end. In the meantime, Anwar should not be made to suffer. Enough damage has been done," he said.

As usual, Anwar was brought into the court room under heavy security. His family came in full force, with all his six children in court.

The ex-deputy premier, who was sacked in 1998, chatted with his o­nly son Muhammad Ihsan who is currently pursuing his studies in Australia.

Sodomy charge

Anwar and Sukma had filed their respective bail applications o­n April 22 after the Court of Appeal dismissed their oral applications o­n April 18.

The court then directed the duo to file formal bail applications.

The two had sought bail and stay of execution after the abovementioned judges quashed their appeals to set aside their convictions and sentences for a sodomy offence.

The court had also revoked Sukma's RM50,000 bail and ordered him to serve his prison sentence with immediate effect.

On Aug 8, 2000, High Court Arifin Jaka found Anwar guilty of sodomising Azizan Abu Bakar - the former driver of Anwar's wife and Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail - and jailed him to nine years.

He also found Sukma guilty of sodomising Azizan and abetting Anwar. He jailed the Indonesian-born businessman to six years and four strokes of the rotan but had allowed the former bail and stay of execution pending appeal.

Another injustice

In an immediate reaction, UN Special Rapporteur o­n the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Param Cumaraswamy said that the court's decision in refusing to grant Anwar an interim bail was another injustice to the jailed politician.

He said that the court had failed in its duty by acceding to the AG's submissions that the matter should be left to the authorities.

"One would have expected the Attorney- General, who appeared for the prosecution, to support at least the application for interim bail. It would seem that he could not avoid political considerations in the performance of his prosecutorial duties even o­n such an issue of interim bail for three days," said Cumaraswamy.

"Another sad day not o­nly for the independence and impartiality of the judiciary but also the entire administration of justice in Malaysia in politically sensitive cases," he added.