A large crowd gathered at Anwar's house on 14 April 2003

What should be regarded as another day of national shame passed by with very little notice as far as most of the citizens of this country were concerned, simply because they did not know about it, and our national media chose not to inform them.

The day in question was Monday, 14 April 2003, the day on which Dato� Seri Anwar Ibrahim completed four out of the six years of imprisonment for being found guilty on four counts of abuse of power and corruption. Anwar, having been given a remission of one third of the sentence for good behaviour, was due to be released that day.

Nevertheless, Anwar was not released. An official statement issued by the prison authorities at 11 a.m. on 14 April explained that although he had completed his first sentence, he was immediately starting to serve his nine years of imprisonment for sodomy, which would run consecutively (as decreed by the presiding judge at the time).

Stated baldly like this, there is no obvious cause for national shame. The man had been charged, found guilty in a court of law, and justice had to take its course. However, as a little deeper enquiry will show, the course of Malaysian justice is - like Malaysian rivers - full of ox-bow lakes and S-bends.

For instance, one must wonder why Anwar�s appeal against his conviction for sodomy took a long two-and-a-half years before it was brought for hearing before the Court of Appeal � so that in fact the appeal was heard only three weeks before his sentence was due to begin. There was no way by which the appeal judges could deliver their judgement before that day dawned.

Where was the Media?

One must also wonder what has happened to the national media. The fact that Anwar�s release was due on Monday and was not granted passed unremarked; yet was this not an event of great national importance from many angles: political, legal, constitutional? Nor did the media find the space to record the fact that on the night of 14 April over a thousand supporters and sympathizers gathered within and around the compound of his home in Bukit Damansara to welcome him home.

Neither did the media find the space to report on the still larger gathering of 2,000-3,000 people that had taken place at the PAS headquarters at Taman Melewar, Gombak, two nights previously, where they were addressed by leaders of all the Opposition parties, including the DAP�s Lim Kit Siang, to call for Anwar�s release.

But, in truth, there is no need for us to wonder why - because we all know the reason. We all know that the real case against Anwar has nothing to do with abuse of power per se, or of sodomy. The real case is political: in other words, that Anwar, rightly or wrongly, wisely or unwisely, was perceived to be mounting a very serious challenge to the authority of Dr. Mahathir and his acolytes and had to be removed.

A National Shame

Power struggles amongst politicians are part of the game of politics, and are not criminal unless the means adopted are criminal. Unfortunately, there is enough circumstantial evidence around to show that the means resorted to by Dr. Mahathir and his supporters to retain their positions as leaders of the Barisan Nasional have been, if not actually criminal, devious in the extreme. This is a great source of shame to the nation. The manner the Executive has bullied the Judiciary and the failure of many of our judges to protect the sanctity of their profession is another source of shame. The supineness of our national Press - which, for the record, is ranked close to the bottom of the table in recent global press freedom survey� is yet another source of national shame.

Nor can we be too proud of ourselves as individuals either. Too many of us just do not want to know what is happening, let alone do anything about it. And yet the treatment that has been meted out to Dato� Seri Anwar Ibrahim for reasons not of principle but for reasons of politics should never have been allowed to happen to him or to any other fellow Malaysian. If we do not wish to concern ourselves with Anwar�s fate, it would be well to remember the words of the cleric who said � When you hear the (funeral) bell toll, do not ask for whom it tolls, for it tolls for thee.

Now e-mail us and tell us what you think.