Khamis, 29 Januari 2015

Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar Ibrahim


Inter-Parliamentary Union expresses deep concern on outcome of Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 01:14 AM PST

Inter-Parliamentary Union expresses deep concern on outcome of Anwar Ibrahim's appeal

Press Statement by Gooi Hsiao Leung dated 29.1.2015

PKR welcomes the decision by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to send an international observer to the Federal Court on the 10th of February for the outcome of Anwar's final appeal against the sodomy II conviction.

IPU's decision was made at a meeting by it's Committee of Human Rights on Parliamentarians held just two days ago after reviewing Anwar Ibrahim's case.

The IPU after reviewing the facts, had noted that the sodomy charges has "been widely criticized as a bid to derail his (Anwar's) political career" and raised the following serious concerns :

1. The rushed manner in which the final hearings were conducted and organized before the Court of Appeal, the apparent ease with which the main arguments presented by the defence, in particular concerning the integrity of the DNA samples, were dismissed, and the fact that the same law, although never or rarely invoked in Malaysia, has been invoked twice against Anwar Ibrahim.

2. That N. Surendran, Anwar's lawyer, had been wrongly subjected to threats of being prosecuted for sedition in relation to the legitimate exercise of his role as legal counsel for Anwar, putting unfair pressure on his ability to effectively represent his client without fear of reprisals.

The IPU Committee in its meeting also concluded that in the light of Mr. Anwar Ibrahim's case history (sodomy I and II) and the issues in play, including the fact that, if upheld, the current conviction would eliminate him from the life of parliament for more than a decade, thus depriving the opposition of its main leader, it is critical for the IPU to closely follow the final stage in the proceedings against Mr. Anwar Ibrahim before the Federal Court.

PKR greatly appreciates the deep concerns shown by the IPU on the outcome of Anwar's case, especially on the future of the opposition in this country in the event Anwar's conviction is upheld, and IPU's decision to send an international observer to closely monitor Anwar's case.


Gooi Hsiao Leung

Member of Parliament, Alor Setar

PKR International Bureau Chief


"Inter-Parliamentary Union" melahirkan rasa kebimbangan serius terhadap keputusan rayuan Anwar Ibrahim.

Kenyataan Akhbar Gooi Hsiao Leung bertarikh 29.1.2015

PKR mengalu-alukan keputusan oleh "Inter-Parliamentary Union" (IPU) untuk menghantar pemerhati antarabangsa ke Mahkamah Persekutuan pada 10 Februari untuk keputusan rayuan terakhir Anwar terhadap sabitan liwat II.

Keputusan IPU dibuat dalam satu mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Hak Asasi Manusia Ahli-Ahli Parlimen hanya dua hari lepas selepas mengkaji kes Anwar Ibrahim.

IPU selepas mengkaji fakta-fakta, telah mencatitkan notaan bahawa tuduhan liwat ini “telah luas dikritik sebagai satu usaha untuk menjejaskan kerjaya politik" Anwar, dan membangkitkan kebimbangan serius seperti berikutnya:

1. Cara yang bergegas di mana pendengaran akhir dilaksanakan di hadapan Mahkamah Rayuan, dimana hujahan utama pihak pembelaan dengan mudahnya, khususnya terhadap integriti sampel DNA, ditolak, dan hakikat bahawa undang-undang liwat yang sama, walaupun tidak pernah atau jarang digunakan di Malaysia, telah digunakan dua kali terhadap Anwar Ibrahim.

2. Bahawa N. Surendran, peguam Anwar, telah secara salah diancam akan didakwa menghasut berhubung dengan perlaksanaan tanggungjawabnya, dalam peranan beliau sebagai peguam Anwar, dan ini telah meletakkan tekanan yang tidak adil atas keupayaannya untuk mewakili anak guamnya dengan efektif tanpa takut terhadap apa-apa tindakan balas.

Jawatankuasa IPU dalam mesyuaratnya juga membuat kesimpulan bahawa berdasarkan sejarah kes Anwar Ibrahim (kes liwat I dan II) dan isu-isu dalam permainan, termasuk fakta bahawa, jika sabitan beliau ditegakkan, sabitannya akan menghapuskan peranan beliau di parlimen lebih daripada satu dekad, dan ini akan menafikan pembangkang pemimpin utamanya – jadi adalah amat penting bagi IPU untuk rapat mengikuti peringkat akhir dalam prosiding terhadap Anwar di hadapan Mahkamah Persekutuan.

PKR amat menghargai kebimbangan yang ditunjukkan oleh IPU kepada keputusan kes Anwar, terutamanya kepada pada masa depan pembangkang di negara ini sekiranya sabitan Anwar ditegakkan, dan juga keputusan IPU untuk menghantar pemerhati antarabangsa untuk memantau dengan teliti kes Anwar.


Gooi Hsiao Leung

Ahli Parlimen, Alor Setar

Ketua Biro Antarabangsa PKR

IPU Press Office: Calls for action on human rights abuses of MPs worldwide

Posted: 29 Jan 2015 01:13 AM PST

Calls for action on human rights abuses of MPs worldwide

Geneva, 28 January 2015 – A four-day meeting of IPU's Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians has ended in Geneva with a series of decisions on cases across the world.

In Sri Lanka, the Committee is hopeful that the new government will take all the necessary steps to bring to trial those responsible for the murder of MPs Joseph Pararajasingham and Nadarajah Raviraj in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Allegations that the Sri Lankan army and paramilitaries may have had a role in the murders needed examining. The Committee also called on the Sri Lankan authorities to work closely with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights investigation team and act on recommendations made.

The Committee, which reviewed the situation of 301 MPs from 40 countries, expressed deep concern over developments in Malaysia where a lawyer for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is facing sedition charges. With a final verdict in the second sodomy trial of Ibrahim expected next month, IPU will send a trial observer to the hearings. The Organization had already expressed concern at the rushed process of Anwar Ibrahim's appeal hearings last year.

The decisions on Malaysia and Sri Lanka were among the 20 taken by the Committee, and involved 88 MPs in 15 countries.

The Committee also called for greater protection for Afghan woman MP and human rights advocate Fawzia Koofi who survived an assassination attempt in 2010. She has been the target of additional death threats since. The perpetrators remain at large and the Committee remains concerned that unless justice prevails, Koofi and other MPs' ability to carry out their parliamentary mandate is being seriously undermined.

On a case involving 14 Venezuelan MPs, many of whom had their parliamentary immunity stripped or were facing a range of allegedly politically motivated charges, the Committee has recommended that a mission to the Latin American country be carried out to help make progress on its resolution.

There was concern too that the suspension of Israeli Knesset member Haneen Zoabi's right to make statements in the parliament and other parliamentary privileges after she had exercised her right to freedom of speech, had not been quashed by the Israeli High Court. With new parliamentary elections due in March, and recalling a previous attempt to disqualify Zoabi from standing for election, the IPU Committee will be following developments closely.

During the meeting, a new case was admitted, involving the former Speaker of the Niger Parliament Amadou Hama, on allegations that he was complicit in his wife's alleged purchase of babies and then claiming them as their own children. IPU expects to send an observer to the trial proceedings to ascertain fair process in the case.

Cases concerning 22 MPs, including that of Icelandic MP and former Wikileaks volunteer, Birgitta Jonsdottir, were closed. In this instance, however, concerns remain on the repercussions of a Twitter court order on Jonsdottir's right to freedom and privacy and on the challenges to human rights protection in the face of fast-moving technological developments.

A new Committee president was also elected for one year. British MP Ann Clwyd takes over from Chilean Senator Juan Pablo Letelier.

The Committee deals with human rights violations and abuses of MPs such as death, torture, threats, arbitrary arrest and detention, lack of fair trial, violation of freedom of expression or the unlawful suspension or loss of their parliamentary mandate.

Find details on these and all other decisions taken by the Committee at this session here http://www.ipu.org/pdf/hrcomres146.pdf