COMMENT Politics is all about perception. And in politics, bashing someone only serves to increase sympathy for him or her, more so when it is done in cases where the accused has continuously maintained innocence and when there is reasonable doubt.

Thus, the perception that the accused is a victim.

On Tuesday, former deputy prime minister and parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was sentenced to five years in prison on a sodomy charge, which he claims to be a political conspiracy to topple him.

Despite having been incarcerated before - what with being beaten, shamed and jailed over abuse of power - when the expected happened, the sentencing was still hard to bear, even for those who did not know him personally...