The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Anwar Ibrahim, a member of the House of Representatives of Malaysia at the time of the submission of the communication, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/177/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 176^th session (April 2005),

Taking account of the communication from the Secretariat for Anwar's Pardon dated 14 October 2005,

Recalling that on 2 September 2004 the Federal Court quashed the sentence for sodomy which the Kuala Lumpur High Court had handed down on 8 August 2000 against Mr. Anwar Ibrahim and ordered his release; and recalling further that, owing to the guilty verdict of April 1999 in the abuse of power (corruption) case, which still stands, Mr. Anwar Ibrahim remains barred from standing for election and from any political activity for a period of five years, until 14 April 2008,

Considering that on 1 May 2005 a convention calling for Mr. Anwar Ibrahim's pardon was held in Kuala Lumpur, and was attended by 1,236 participants from all over Malaysia, who resolved that the convention's secretariat should take the necessary measures and/or action to seek a royal pardon for Mr. Ibrahim, that on 25 May 2005, pursuant to Clause 42 of the Federal Constitution, the Secretariat for Anwar's Pardon submitted to the King a petition to this end, adducing as grounds inter alia that he had served his prison sentence for a period longer than normal, that he had suffered injury while in police custody as a result of being assaulted by the former Inspector General of Police, that the court's decision on the first charge (corrupt practices) had become irrelevant when the court's decision on the second charge (sexual misbehaviour) had been set aside on appeal to the Federal Court, as the two charges were related, that precedents existed in granting royal pardons, and that the petition was also sent to concerned Malaysian authorities, including the Prime Minister,

Bearing in mind that, under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the King may grant a pardon on the recommendation of the Prime Minister only,

1. Continues to support fully the petition for a royal pardon to be given to Mr. Anwar Ibrahim, so as to enable Mr. Anwar Ibrahim once more to participate fully in the political life of his country;

2. Calls upon the Prime Minister to exercise his power under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, and thus allow the petition seeking a Royal Pardon for Mr. Anwar Ibrahim to be considered;

3. Requests the Secretary General of the IPU to take any action that may be conducive to ensuring that Mr. Anwar Ibrahim is granted a Royal Pardon;

4. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held during the 114^th IPU Assembly (May 2006).

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 113th IPU Assembly and related meetings in PDF format (file size 653K approximately ). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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