The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the outline of the case of Mr. Anwar Ibrahim, a member of the House of Representatives of Malaysia at the time of the submission of the complaint, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/175/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 174^th session (April 2004),

Taking account of various communications from Mr. Ibrahim's wife and defence counsel, and considering the judgment delivered by the Federal Court on 2 September 2004, a copy of which was forwarded by the Malaysian Parliament,

Recalling that, following his arrest in September 1998, Mr. Anwar Ibrahim was prosecuted on charges of corruption relating to accusations that he abused his ministerial office by directing two senior police officers in August 1997 to obtain retractions of allegations of sexual misconduct made by two persons; Mr. Ibrahim was found guilty in April 1999 and sentenced to six years' imprisonment; the judgment was upheld on appeal and at last instance by the Federal Court in July 2002; in September 2004, the Federal Court ruled that it had the power to hear Anwar Ibrahim’s application to set aside its own earlier decision, but found there to be no merit in a review of the case,

Recalling that, on 8 August 2000, Kuala Lumpur High Court found Anwar Ibrahim guilty of sodomy and sentenced him to nine years' imprisonment; on 18 April 2003 his appeal was rejected; considering that, on 2 September 2004, the Federal Court quashed the sentence and ordered Mr. Ibrahim’s release; when reviewing the evidence, the Court held that the prosecution’s key witness was unreliable and in effect an accomplice; it concluded also that Anwar Ibrahim’s co-accused, Sukma Darmawan, did not appear to have confessed voluntarily and expressed concern that the police had been heavy-handed,

Considering that following his release, Anwar Ibrahim went to Germany to undergo the long-awaited operation for his back injury, which was successful,

Noting that owing to the conviction in the corruption case, which still stands, Anwar Ibrahim will be debarred from holding office in political parties or standing for election for a period of five years, until 14 April 2008,

1. Expresses great satisfaction at the ruling of the Federal Court and Anwar Ibrahim’s release;

2. Notes with concern, however, that he will remain debarred from participating in political activity for five years on account of the judgment in the "corruption case", which had given rise to serious concerns as to its fairness and in which he has served the sentence handed down on him;

3. Calls therefore on the authorities and in particular on the Malaysian Parliament to do their utmost to ensure that Anwar Ibrahim is granted an immediate and unconditional pardon;

4. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent authorities;

5. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 112^th Assembly (April 2005).

* The Malaysian delegation took the floor to comment on the resolution. Its observations may be found in the Summary Records of the 175th session of the Governing Council.

 

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