(The Malaysian Insider) - Opposition veteran Lim Kit Siang accused Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of being biased against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim because he referred to Anwar’s accuser Saiful Bukhari Azlan as the victim.
“In one fell swoop, the Prime Minister has again become judge, prosecutor and accuser all in one. If Abdullah is convinced that Saiful is the ‘victim’ ... even before the date for hearing has been fixed, who can expect a fair trial for Anwar?
“It is most improper and completely unthinkable that a Prime Minister can make the type of comments prejudicing a fair trial for Anwar,” he said in a statement today.
Abdullah told the press in Bukit Mertajam yesterday that Saiful was the victim when asked to comment on Saiful’s swearing on the Quran at the Kuala Lumpur mosque on Friday to prove he was telling the truth when he said that he had been sodomised by the Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader.
The Prime Minister was also quoted as saying that Saiful’s oath-taking was based on Islamic teachings and asked Anwar to do the same.
Pas senior religious scholars Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had dismissed the oath-taking by Saiful, urging him to seek justice in the Syariah court instead.
The case against Anwar in the civil court here will be mentioned on Sept 10.
DAP supremo Lim questioned the need for Anwar to follow Saiful’s act of swearing on the Quran. “Will the criminal charge of Sodomy II against Anwar under Section 377B of the Penal Code for consensual sodomy be withdrawn if Anwar swears on the Quran?
“If not, what is the point or purpose of Abdullah making such a statement, except to underline his bias and prejudice against Anwar?” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment