Malaysian government has zero credibility in Sodomy case

I am sickened and disgusted with the sodomy case involving Malaysian ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. It is insulting to the intelligence for the Malaysian government to suggest that the trial is routine and normal.

My question is - do you see many other people being charged for sodomy? The lack of other people being investigated and arrested for sodomy clearly shows that Anwar's trial is actually a 'persecution' and not a 'prosecution'.

The Malaysian government presently has zero credibility. How many people believe that Anwar Ibrahim had sexual intercourse with Mohd Saiful Bukhari? How many people believe that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had sexual intercourse with Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu as alleged by private investigator P Balasubramaniam in his first declaration?

To make matters worse, this private investigator has now mysteriously disappeared. Then there is the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock. The Malaysian forensic pathologist has said it was a suicide but then a renowned Thai forensic pathologist has suggested the possibility of murder.

Anwar Ibrahim, as the leading opposition member, is clearly a threat to the present ruling government in Malaysia. There is strong belief that the opposition will win the next general election and Anwar Ibrahim will be the next prime minister. Thus, the trial of Anwar Ibrahim is actually undemocratic because it will deny him the right to run in a free and fair election.

Anwar Ibrahim has become Malaysia's Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma's jailed pro-democracy leader). There is speculation that the recent arrest and detention of 10 people in Malaysia under the ISA for suspected terrorism is a strategic move by the Malaysian government to stave off criticism by the US, Britain and other Western nations for the arrest and trial of Anwar Ibrahim.

The question is - are those persons arrested under the ISA - who are mainly foreign students from Muslim countries such as Yemen and Nigeria - genuine terrorists planning terrorist acts or are they innocent scapegoats arrested because the Malaysian government wants to prove its servitude and loyalty to the West?

This is a tactic used by many Muslim countries in the world to deflect criticism against their horrendous human rights record. The two most important Muslim allies of the West are Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Saudi Arabia has detained without trial thousands of innocent people including opposition figures using laws similar to Malaysia's ISA Egypt has banned its main opposition party, the Muslim Brotherhood, and arrested thousands of opposition members.

So there is a general consensus amongst leaders of Muslim majority countries such as Malaysia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia that as long as they do the bidding of the West, they will be given a free hand to abuse and torture their own people.

The silence of the West over the Anwar Ibrahim trial is deafening. As long as the Malaysian government plays its cards well and portrays itself as a willing partner in the 'war on terror', it will get away with its crimes.