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 complaint, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/179/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 178th session (May 2006),

Recalling the following: Mr. Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and Finance Minister, was found guilty in April 1999 and August 2000 on charges of corrupt practices (directing two senior police officers to obtain retractions of allegations of sexual misconduct made by two persons against him) and sodomy, respectively; in September 2004 the Federal Court quashed the conviction in the sodomy case and ordered Mr. Ibrahim's release; however, as a result of the conviction in the "corrupt practices" case, he will remain debarred from holding office in political parties and standing for election until April 2008,

Recalling furtherthat in May 2005 a group of Malaysian citizens submitted to the King of Malaysia a petition for a Royal Pardon of Mr. Anwar Ibrahim, setting out the following rationale: (i) Mr. Ibrahim has served his prison sentence for a longer period than is normal practice, (ii) he has suffered injuries while in police custody as a result of being assaulted by the former Inspector General of Police, (iii) the court's decision on the first charge (corrupt practices) became irrelevant when the court's decision on the second charge (sexual misconduct) was set aside on appeal to the Federal Court since the two charges were interrelated, and (iv) that a precedent has been set in granting royal pardons; considering, however, that the petition has so far remained unanswered,

Taking account of the following information provided by one of the sources on 12 July 2006: on 14 June 2006, the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of Mr. Sukma Darmawan for having allowed Mr. Anwar Ibrahim to sodomize him; the three judges on the bench ruled unanimously that his conviction – which was based on a guilty plea – was manifestly unsound as there had been suppression of evidence on the part of the prosecution; the court set aside his six-month jail sentence and ordered the case to be sent back to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court for retrial,

Recalling in this respect that Mr. Anwar Ibrahim's conviction on sodomy charges was based inter alia on the prosecution's contention that he sodomized Sukma Darmawan in April 1998,

Noting also that Mr. Ibrahim has lodged a defamation lawsuit against former Prime Minister Mahathir, which is pending,

Recalling lastly that Article 42 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which deals with the power to pardon, stipulates that the King has the power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites in respect of all offences which have been tried by court martial and all offences committed in the Federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan,

1. Affirms that the quashing of Mr. Sukma Darmawan's conviction for sodomy is one more element which shows that Anwar Ibrahim's trial and conviction were based on wholly unfounded charges and were not legally motivated;

2. Reaffirms its full support for the granting of a Royal Pardon to Mr. Anwar Ibrahim as requested by a group of Malaysian citizens in May 2005, and invites member parliaments to express their support as well;

3. Requests the Secretary General to inform the King of Malaysia, the Prime Minister and the Parliament of this resolution;

4. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 116th Assembly (April-May 2007).

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* The delegation of Malaysia objected to the resolution arguing that, under Malaysian law, Mr. Anwar Ibrahim himself had to lodge a pardon petition with the King.

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