Bar president has right to raise injustice against Anwar, says lawyers group
A lawyers group has come out in support of the Malaysian Bar president over his statement following Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's conviction for sodomy, saying Christopher Leong has a legal duty to speak up on public interest issues.
Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen, responding to the 100 lawyers who signed a petition to censure the Bar chief, said Leong had acted in the tradition of the Bar of upholding justice and speaking up without fear and favour.
"So, it is absurd to demand that Leong retract his statement and tender an unequivocal and unconditional public apology to the judiciary and the public," he said.
Paulsen said this was the tradition in all Commonwealth countries and in Malaysia, it was a statutory duty enshrined in the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 1976 to speak up.
"In Anwar's case, his response is legitimate and consistent with his duty as president of the Bar," he told The Malaysian Insider.
He said one of the objective and powers under the LPA was to uphold the cause of justice without regard to its own interests or that of its members, uninfluenced by fear or favour.
Earlier today, the 100 petitioners said they would take all necessary steps to ensure Leong resigned from his post immediately and that the Attorney-General instituted contempt proceedings against him.
They said Leong's remark was a direct attack on the Federal Court without any legal basis and brought the nation's highest court into disrepute and odium.
Soon after the Federal Court affirmed Anwar's conviction and sentence on February 10, Leong said there was a perception that the accused was persecuted, fuelled by "glaring anomalies", including not charging Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Leong said the charge against Anwar was based on a provision of the Penal Code that was rarely used but this was later refuted by Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.
Leong said Anwar had been prosecuted and convicted twice for an alleged offence of sexual acts between adults wherein the charge does not contain elements of coercion.
The Federal Court which found Anwar guilty of sodomising Saiful, his former aide Saiful in a condominium unit at Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur in 2008, also affirmed the five-year jail term.
Paulsen said the petitioners could debate the matter at the Bar's annual general meeting scheduled on March 14.
The Malaysian Bar has about 15,500 members in the peninsula.
Paulsen said the Malaysian judiciary had never been the same since the 1988 constitutional crisis and the sacking of then Lord President Salleh Abas and the suspension of five Supreme Court judges.
Three judges were removed from office after they were found guilty of judicial misconduct while two were reinstated.
Paulsen said since then there have been a multitude of scandals and allegations of impropriety involving the bench.
"At the end of the day, the judiciary must stand or fall on its conduct and judgments.
No amount of threats, contempt of court or through the Sedition Act can prop up the judiciary because its foundation must be built on public confidence and trust," he added.
In the summary of his judgment, Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria found that claims of political conspiracy by Anwar's defence team remained an unsubstantiated allegation.
He also agreed with the High Court and Court of Appeal that Saiful was a credible witness.
Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), Canada, Australia, and Switzerland have expressed concerns over the Federal Court's verdict. – February 21, 2015.
