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KUALA LUMPUR: The president of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Anwar Ibrahim, failed in his attempt to legally challenge the clemency for his conviction for sodomy in 2014.
On Monday (September 21), the Malaysian High Court dismissed Anwar’s request to strike out an initial subpoena filed by attorney Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz on full reprieve from his conviction and imprisonment for sodomizing an aide.
High Court Judge Akhtar Tahir also dismissed a similar request from the Board of Pardons.
Anwar had been sentenced to five years in prison for sodomizing his assistant, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. His conviction and sentence were confirmed by the Malaysian Federal Court on February 10, 2015.
The Port Dickson Member of Parliament was released from prison on May 16, 2018, after receiving clemency from the King of Malaysia.
READ: Anwar Ibrahim to be released immediately after full royal clemency, says Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
Khairul Azam, through the law firm Raja Riza & Associates, named the Board of Pardons and Anwar as the first and second defendants, respectively, in his subpoena filed on February 26 of this year.
Counsel asserted that Anwar’s clemency was in contravention of the Malaysian Federal Constitution, as clemency granted by the king should be based on the advice of the Board of Pardons.
He argued that the Board of Pardons had not yet been formed at that time, following Malaysia’s 14th general election on May 9, 2018.
Khairul Azam also claimed that, following the elections, several unconstitutional actions had been taken to ensure that Anwar received a clemency for his release.
On May 13, Anwar submitted a request arguing that Khairul Azam had no locus standi to present the original subpoena and that it was frivolous, an embarrassment, and an abuse of the judicial process.
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“IT’S NOT A REAL FORGIVENESS”
In dismissing the requests, Judge Akhtar ruled that the plaintiff, Khairul Azam, had locus standi to initiate the lawsuit as he is a member of the public and a qualified person. The judge also ruled that there were probable issues that needed to be heard in their entirety.
Judge Akhtar also held that the king had exercised executive power by granting clemency to Anwar.
“If he exercised the executive power, how can he not be justiciable? It is not a real pardon. It is an executive pardon because he is assuming the role of the executive,” said the judge.
“So if you are exercising executive power, then there are procedures and laws when you can challenge the executive power,” he added.
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Judge Akhtar said this was not a clear case that could be summarily dismissed.
Raising the issue of equality before the law, the judge said that if there were reasons to justify a pardon, then the reasons should be indicated. This was because people who were convicted of similar charges would feel that they had been subjected to injustice or injustice.
“This is a civil matter that must be proven on the balance of probabilities. I am dismissing both applications with no warrant on costs,” Judge Akhtar said.
The trial was set for March 24-26 next year, and February 18 for case management.
Lawyers Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla and M Reza Hassan represented Mohd Khairul Azam. Anwar was represented by attorney J Leela. Lead federal attorney Natra Idris appeared at the Board of Pardons.
