Wake up call for Anwar - what if something happens to Yusoff Rawther? Can S233 amendments keep 'most suppressed' man suppressed?
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) - Whipping for Syed Saddiq, once Malaysia's and one of the world's youngest ministers, and indefinite jail time without trial for Yusoff Rawther, the research assistant who filed a sexual assault complaint against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
This amid a "backdoor attempt" by Anwar's government to ram through fake news laws that will give him and his ministers allegedly even more draconian powers over what can be said or cannot be said by the people.
"It will put fear upon the public and prevent them from participating discussions regarding matters of public interest. It would have chilling effect on freedom of speech," Zaid Malek, the director of legal watchdog group Lawyers for Liberty, told the press.
"It would mean that allegations of corruption, abuse of power or general criticisms of the government cannot take place unless the public have the complete and full facts of every aspect of any matter or allegation. Otherwise, they could be nabbed and charged for the offence under Section 233(1)(a) of the CMA," Zaid said.
Zaid was referring to the Communications and Multimedia Act or CMA which is different from the Anti-Fake News Act or AFNA which has now been repealed. The AFNA was the 'brainchild' of Umno law minister Azalina Aziz. It was passed by former prime minister Najib Razak's government just weeks before his ouster in the 2018 general election. The disgraced Najib, now serving a reduced six-year jail sentence, was seen as desperate to silence critics and stop information about the 1MDB corruption debacle from reaching the public.
Obviously, the AFNA was strenuously opposed by Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition, which was then in the opposition. When the legendary Mahathir Mohamad finally toppled Najib and became prime minister again in 2018, it was he and not Anwar who scrapped the law. Mahathir's bold move was hailed by rights groups and journalists, who claimed the AFNA was to suppress voices critical of the government.
'SNAKING' IN AFNA VIA AMENDMENTS TO S233 OF CMA?
Now as Anwar struggles to make an impact on the country, improve its economy, education and social sectors, his government is seen trying to 'snake back in' the most oppressive elements in the AFNA via amendments to Section 233 of the CMA.
"This is an utter betrayal by Pakatan Harapan of their longstanding promise to the people that they would repeal Section 233," LFL's Zaid added.
Hypocritically or not, the much reviled Section 233 is still often used by the Anwar government to clamp down on social media users and opposition leaders who criticize Anwar and his policies. It carries a hefty fine of up to RM500,000 or two years' jail.
In particular, Anwar's communications minister Fahmi Fadzil has been at the forefront of the Pakatan volte-face on freedom of speech and it comes as no surprise that the amendments now seek to include giving more powers to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (or MCMC), which falls under Fahmi's command.
Fahmi, who is also the information chief of Anwar's PKR party, also wants the amendments to grant the MCMC and its officials immunity from prosecution or other proceedings. Fahmi has been accused of hiding behind the MCMC and the MCMC in turn hiding behind Section 233 to block news websites, blogs and other social media that are critical of Anwar.
"This is an irony. It not only reeks of injustice but also political cowardice. It's like you want to do what you fear or know in your heart is unconstitutional and unprincipled but yet you try and twist the law to cover yourselves - and that's an example of abuse of power for you," an analyst told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
The proposed amendments also includes inserting terms such as “confusing” or “incomplete” or "untrue" to replace the word "false" in Section 233's current definition of misuse of network facilities. Obviously, if Anwar and Fahmi succeed in tabling the new amendments, this would only "massively widen the offences" chargeable under the Section 233, as LFL's Zaid pointed out.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ANWAR & PAKATAN?
Meanwhile, Anwar has promised to look into the complaints that have surfaced over the proposed amendments. But few doubt that much, if anything, will be done. Many pundits point to the Yusoff Rawther sexual assault case against him and the court's upholding of a whipping sentence against Syed Saddiq as exemplifying the worst that now ails the country.
"Syed Saddiq's sentence was excessive and harsh, in my view. He was an exceptionally clever and talented young man. His passion for public service is hard to find in another young person," former law minister Zaid Ibrahim posted on X.
It is especially perplexing that Pakatan, which in the past would have rushed to condemn the punishment as excessive and cruel, is now mostly silent on Syed Saddiq, even though he had fought on their side during the 2022 general elections that swept Anwar into power.
The glaring irony that cannot be missed is that Syed Saddiq, who holds the Muar parliamentary seat, had withdrawn from the Anwar government when Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, who is also the Umno president, was controversially discharged from all 47 corruption charges he was on trial for.
It is bound to raise speculation that the Anwar regime might be exacting political vengeance on Syed Saddiq for embarrassing them over Zahid's discharge, which had triggered widespread public outrage and slammed as Anwar's 'payback time' to Zahid for helping him become PM and paving the way for Pakatan to form the government together with Umno.
SYED SADDIQ RM1.2MIL - WHIPPING; ZAHID RM51MIL - DNAA, NAJIB RM2.3BIL - HOME ARREST?
Syed Saddiq had been found guilty over the misappropriation of funds amounting to some RM1.2 million from his then political party Bersatu, but has maintained he was innocent and a victim of political revenge. He was sentenced to seven years’ jail, a RM10 million fine and two strokes of the cane for all four of the charges brought against him.
By contrast, the 71-year-old Zahid was accused of similar corruption but involving bribery of more than RM51 million. As for Najib, who although is still on trial over the billions of ringgit stolen in the 1MDB corruption debacle, the ex-premier has managed to secure under Anwar's watch a partial royal pardon that halved the 12-year jail sentence meted out in a separate corruption trial linked to the massive 1MDB scandal.
Speculation has been rife ever since Anwar took power that he won Zahid and Najib's support only after agreeing to help get the Umno duo off the hook from their corruption cases. All three have denied the rumors but without Zahid and Najib's backing, it is doubtful Anwar could become PM as his Pakatan coalition could only form the government by combining its 82 seats with Umno's 30.
"Does this smell of injustice? I would say yes. Political vengeance and selective prosecution? Yes, that too," said the analyst, referring to the numerous comparisons being drawn by the public between Syed Saddiq's case with Zahid's and Najib's.
"What's the worst and doesn't bode well for the country going forward is that hardly anyone dares to speak up these days. Under Mahathir, civil society and democracy activists would accuse him of turning Malaysia into a police state. Yes, Dr M would jail them under the Internal Security Act and whatnot. But they still had the guts to show their dissent. But now the situation is clearly worse under Anwar with the proof in the deathly silence all around. Civil society hardly dares to speak up as before and neither is the online media, many of which are actually pro-Anwar portals," the analyst added.
MOST SUPPRESSED CASE IN MALAYSIA?
Perhaps the most 'suppressed' case of all in the country is the one involving Yusoff Rawther, the grandson of a well-respected consumer rights advocate. The handsome Yusoff, now 31, had filed a sexual assault case against Anwar, accusing the PM of lecherous conduct and indecent molest. The case is due to be heard in June next year.
Stunningly, within a week of filing the list of witnesses for the sexual assault suit against Anwar, he was suddenly arrested by the police and detained without trial for alleged possession of firearms and drugs. A former research assistant working for Anwar, he has since filed two more police reports with the names of people to be investigated, but the police have yet to comment on the status of these reports.
"My lord, I am innocent," Yusoff told the judge a day ago while in court to enter a 'not guilty' plea to the guns and drugs charges brought against him.
"I have endured being sexually assaulted by someone I had once looked up to, beaten up, injured, threatened to be set up and killed, defamed, followed, and harassed for the past two years, and now, I have been framed," said Yusoff.
He also pleaded with the court to not delay 'justice' for him and urged the judge to "begin the trial with all deliberate speed and grant me justice in the present".
"Anything less is cruel injustice," said Yusoff, who had previously offered to take a lie-detector test for the police over his sexual attack allegations against Anwar, but the offer was surprisingly and rather mysteriously turned down.
BE CAREFUL, ANWAR - WHAT HAPPENS IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YUSOFF
"My lord, this honourable court has an inherent duty to exercise its formidable powers and protect me from these cowardly evils," Yusoff had added..
Indeed, the consequences for Anwar and his regime will be tremendous if anything unfortunate were to happen to Yusoff, even if it had nothing to do with them.
According to pundits, who point at the numerous still-unresolved cases of Christians pastors gone missing after being abducted by what appears to be groups with police or military training as well as the long list of custodial deaths inside local police lockups, it would be foolish for Anwar and his minders not to get to the bottom of the Yusoff incident quickly.
"If anything were to happen to Yusoff during police detention, imagine what would happen to Anwar's reputation. Surely Anwar cannot think he will be freed from the burden of having to deal with Yusoff's sex assault case? It will actually be worse for him," a pundit told PoliticsNow Malaysia.
"As someone with experience, having gone to jail twice after two separate sodomy convictions, Anwar must stay cool. He should understand that if it is his fate to be PM, then he will be PM no matter that Mahathir or Najib had tried to frame him as he has always been accusing them of doing. Similarly Anwar should accept that however long he is fated to be PM, no matter what he does, he won't last longer than what is fated. Don't court even greater disaster by closing an eye to gangster-style tactics. Also, no amount of crackdown on freedom of speech can cover up these type of scandals, " opined the pundit.
SEX ASSAULT AT BUNGALOW-OFFICE
Yusoff had worked as Anwar's research assistant at the latter's bungalow-office at Bukit Gasing in, Petaling Jaya. In 2021, he filed a lawsuit alleging Anwar had sexually assaulted him in October 2018, just days before winning the Port Dickson by-election.
He also filed a separate suit against Anwar's former political secretary Farhash Wafa, claiming damages for the injuries he suffered after he was assaulted at Anwar’s office.
In October 2022, in a major victory but not yet full vindication for Yusoff, the court ordered Anwar's press secretary Tunku Nashrul to pay him RM200,000 in damages for statements made in connection with the assault by Farhash.
The court has now set December 13 for case submission, which is the same day for the case mention of the firearms possession charge. On Oct 9, Yusoff had pleaded not guilty to possession of imitation weapons under the Firearms Act, facing jail term of up to a year and a fine of up to RM5,000 or both.
Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow Malaysia
https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/
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